ANCIKNT 



AND 



HISTORIC LANDMARKS 



IN THE 



Lebanon Valley 



BY 



K.EV. P. C. CROIvIv. 




y^cG-Ci^C 



PHILADELPHIA: 
LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 

1895. 



Copyright, 1895, 

BY THE 

LUTHERAN PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 






l-lo^'?7^e^ji^'^ 



/S'^' 



CONTENTS. 



PA(iE 

Preface 7 

Introduction, by Rev. W. H. Dunbar, D. D 9 

CHAPTER I. / 

A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

An imaginary excursion— Motive — First settlement — Weekly 
trips — A bird's-eye view of territory — Beauty and richness of 
Valley — A goodly remnant of historic relics in the form of 
churches, graveyards, Indian forts, mills and homesteads . 13-17 

CHAPTER II. 

CONRAD WEISER'S HOMESTEAD AND GRAVE. 

Exploration begun — A sacred shrine— The Weiser home and pres- 
ent ownership — A noted marriage— The Weiser burial plot — 

Its illustrious visitors— Brief sketch of Weiser 18-25 * 

CHAPTER IIL 

MIDDLETOWN, ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 

Location and founding— Old streets and buildings — Its churches 
and schools — Old business center — Its graveyards— Worthy 

old families -6-37 

CHAPTER IV. 

THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY. 

Location of this historic shrine— Old landmarks en route— A cen- 
tury and three-quarters of local church history — Old graves. 38-49 
CHAPTER V. 

THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH. 

Church controversy — A new congregation — History of this flock — 

An ancient graveyard 50-57 

CHAPTER VL 

AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE. 
One hundred and fifty years of pastoral family history — Revs. 

Wagner, Kurtz, Schultze, Ulrich, Eggers, Mayser and Long. 58-65 
CHAPTER VII. 
A WELL-PRESERVED INDIAN FORT. 
Location and erection — A glimpse of Colonial times — The fort's 

history — Present ownership 66-72 

(iii) 



iv CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER VIII. 

AN ANTIQUATED VII.I.AGE. 

A burg of the ancient times — Old trades and houses — Brief his- 
tory of village— Some good fruit 73-8o 

CHAPTER IX. 

AN OI,D INDIAN TRAII.. 

A tramp with Indians— A mountain ''KlufV — Wealth at base and 
on top — An eagle's eyrie — Famous Lutheran pioneers here 
gathered 81-88 

CHAPTER X. 

CRADI.E OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 
The Mill Creek Valley — The birth of various denominations— An 

historic hamlet — Indian relics 89-97 

CHAPTER XL 

A DOUBI^E FOUNTAIN HEAD. 

Rise of two streams — The "Albright's" Denomination — Memor- 
ial church — Grave of a bishop— Other graves 98-107 

CHAPTER XIL 

THE COUNTY'S OI,DEST TOWN. 

Founding of SchaefFerstown— Early history — A graveyard as ob- 
servatory — Landscape — Old roads — First public w^ater works 
in United States 108- 115 

CHAPTER XIII. 

AMONG OI.D GRAVES AND BUIIvDINGS. 

Old graves and quaint tomb-stones — Homes of the early peas- 
antry — Old times in vogue — Interesting local church his- 
tory I 16-127 

CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TUI.PEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 

Back to the Tulpehocken — The early Reformed settlers — Church 

history — Record of pastors — Colonial heroes — Old graves. 128-136 

CHAPTER XV. 

AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 

A personal review— Sketches of the Tulpehocken pastors— The 

Leinbachs 137-148 

CHAPTER XVI. 

A STROI,!, AI^ONG THE TUlyPEHOCKEN. 

Angling— Old homesteads— The Breittenbach Indian Fort . . 149-155 



CONTENTS. V 



PAGE 

CHAPTER XVII. 



TULPEHOCKENTOWN, AlylAS MYERSTOWN. 

Naming towns — Sketch of Myers, the founder— Old relics — For- 
mer famous citizens— A future Governor — I^ocal history 156-165 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

A WAI.K OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 

Planting of new churches — Old families — Where Gov. Shultze 
found a wife — Fine old homestead, once a retreat of Wash- 
ington's — Other old homes i66-f77 

CHAPTER XIX. 

ENCAMPED NEAR I^EBANON. 

A halt of excursionists — Historic ground— Family history— His- 
tory of a canal — Historic highways 178-186 

CHAPTER XX. 

THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 

Scripture nomenclature — Mission work and planting of churches — 
History of a church — Valuable records — A Revolutionary 
Prison 187-199 

CHAPTER XXI. 

A WAI,K ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 

Early homes about Lebanon — Moravian headquarters — Old burial 
plot — Ivight's Fort — Other old homesteads — Poem of local 
history 200-213 

CHAPTER XXII. 

MT. TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 

Local history ecclesiastically enshrined — Familiar local names — 

Zealous church workers^Record of pastors ...... 214-225 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 

Graveyard reflections in June— Sketches of pastors and influen- 
tial lay-members sleeping side by side 226-237 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

A HAI.T ON MARKET SQUARE. 

Lebanon's busy mart — Local Revolutionary history — Old home- 
steads lining Square — Family history 238-250 



VI CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

CHAPTER XXV. 

A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE, CONTINUED. 

More historic homes — Famous men and visits — Local history and 

genealogy 251-261 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

SAI.EM LUTHERAN CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 

Early Lntheran history — Local church leaders— Old church rel- 
ics—Record of pastors — Old graves 262-276 

CHAPTER XXVIL 

OUR EXIT VIA OLD CUMBERLAND ST. TO GLONIGER'S FORT. 

Interesting local history on every hand — Where was Steitz's 

house?— Gloninger's Fort — A famous family 277-289 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 

Charms of a library— A collection of rare old books— Historic 

quarters .... 290-299 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 

Location and erection — Biographical sketch— Interesting events 

here transpired — Present ownership 300-307 

CHAPTER XXX. 

A VISIT TO THE HILL CHURCH. 

History of congregation — Her pastors — An old rural "God's 

acre" — Grave of Pastor Stoever— Other graves 308-315 

CHAPTER XXXL 

THE STOEVER MONUMENT. 

A memorial shaft erected — Unveiling— Memorial poena . . . 316-322 
CHAPTER XXXIL 
A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 
The Gem of the Valley — Local history— Dark pages— Old home- 
steads — Leading names — Church work — A final leave- 
taking 323-334 



PREFACE 



The author desires to say to his gentle reader that 
when he began to pen the contents of this volume he 
had no desire to write a book. Seeing a volume of 
interesting local history lie at his feet, he began to open 
it and read. Then he became inclined to impart the 
information gained unto others, and hence chose as his 
vehicle one of the daily papers of his own city. In The ^ 
Daily Report appeared, for seven months, from January 
to August, 1894, in consecutive order, under the nom 
de plume of " Kristofer Kolumbo," these weekly con- 
tributions. They soon attracted attention, and wher- 
ever among readers the author's name became known, 
he was besought to gather the material into permanent 
and convenient form. He has therefore no apology to 
make for its appearance in this way. He has but 
yielded to a general local demand to preserve what his- 
toric matter these fugitive sketches may contain. 

To aid the general reader now undertaking this im- 
aginary historical pilgrimage, a number of illustrations 
have been secured for these pages. The letters the author 
prefers to stand substantially as they were first written, 
asking simply that the reader bear in mind that they are 

(vii) 



Vlll PREFACE. 

"Letters." If they should induce any one to make an 
actual pilgrimage to this ancient settlement, to see for 
himself these landmarks and study them "face to face," 
the writer entertains no fear of ever hearing any regrets 
from such an one for the undertaking. 

The article on Womelsdorf is here inserted in its 
proper place, though it was last written, and this ac- 
counts for its midsummer flavor, the season when these 
contributions were brought to their termination. 

We hope new readers may find something to please 

and instruct. 

P. C. C. 

Lebanon, Pa., March, iSg^. 



INTRODUCTION, 



This book commends itself. Its publication is in 
response to a demand. Its contents were first published 
in a series of articles in a Lebanon daily paper. The 
reading of these articles created much interest, and 
resulted in a general desire to have the material in 
more permanent form. It was the expression of this 
desire, mainly, that led the modest author to the idea* 
of the book. 

The book will be read with more than ordinary 
interest. It is the story of the early settlement of 
central Pennsylvania. The story is told in a sprightly 
way that makes it attractive. The material was gath- 
ered with much labor, and substantiated by personal 
investigation. It contains many incidents in the early 
history of this section, both in its secular affairs and in 
its church work, not elsewhere to be found. 

The book will be valuable as a reference. The sec- 
tion of territory which it covers was the scene of some 
of the most important events in the early settlement of 
the State. Associated with them is the name of Conrad 
Weiser. If the life and deeds of this man were properly 
known, his name would scarcely stand second to any in 

2 (ix) 



X INTRODUCTION. 

the roll of worthies of the Commonwealth. He was the 
valued associate and adviser of men high in authority 
in affairs civil and ecclesiastical. Many of these events 
have no record. They exist simply in traditions handed 
down from generation to generation. With the lapse 
of time these are becoming dim and indistinct. It is 
important that they should have a record in permanent 
form. 

The book can not fail to be of interest, not only to 
those now living in this section, but also to those who 
have gone forth from it to settle other sections. The 
descendants of the people who took part in these scenes 
are to be found in every part of the country. They fill 
all ranks of life. Many of them have inherited and 
carried with them the spirit of their earnest and daring 
ancestors, and have become leaders in thought and life 
and enterprise in their chosen communities. This 
book ought to be in the hands of every man and woman 
who traces back ancestry to the early settlers of central 
Pennsylvania. 

The book opens a field that is rich in material and 
that ought to be developed. Its publication is timely. 
The Lutheran Publication Society is to be commended 
for giving it to the general public. The Pennsylvania 
German has been altogether too modest. Conservative 
almost to a fault, he has not cared to herald his deeds 
to fame. By reason of this same conservatism, he has 
furnished to our social, civil and ecclesiastical life, an 
element of stability and strength. We have the record 



INTRODUCTION. XI 

in detail of the history of tlie New England settle- 
ments. We rejoice in it as a common heritage of 
glory. The New Englander is properly proud of his 
Puritan ancestry. When once the record of our Penn- 
sylvania settlements shall be given in detail, we will 
have reason to be equally proud of our German ances- 
try. 

We rejoice in the organization of the "Pennsylvania 
German Society." It has a history back of it which 
ought to inspire the most devout enthusiasm. It has a 
high and holy duty to perform in creating new interest 
in that history. We commend this book to the mem- 
bers of this society. Its contents will be an impetus to 
more extended research. Its reading ouglit to lead 
some gifted historian to take up and follow the lines 
here laid down, and to put in permanent and systematic 
form the records of the deeds of these brave and devoted 
people to whom we owe so much. 

To those interested in the history of the Lutheran 
Church in this country these sketches will be of special 
value. Directly or indirectly, the events are very closely 
identified or connected with the church-life of the time. 
It is interesting to note how one of the first acts of the 
German settlers was to establish a church. It is signifi- 
cant to note how that church became the center of the 
life of the settlement. There are many facts here re- 
corded of very great interest in the annals of our early 
church history. 

The peculiar value of the book consists in the fact 



XI 1 INTRODUCTION. 

that it gives us glimpses of the inner home-life and 
church-life of the time. We see the godly pastor mak- 
ing his way among the scattered settlements, visiting 
the widely separated homes, sitting with the family 
gathered around the unpretentious board. We see tlie 
congregation gathering from their distant homes, as- 
sembling in the plain and comfortless, yet to them none 
the less sacred structures, to worship God and to listen 
in reverent attention to the preached truth. Now and 
then there comes a revelation of the devout spirit and 
the sturdy piety and the rugged faith of these people. 
It will do us good to recall and study these times, to 
catch some of the spirit of earnestness and simplicity in 

life and devotion. 

W. H. Dunbar. 

Baltimore, IManh, iSc^. 



ANCIENT AND HISTORICAL 

Landmarks in the Lebanon Valley. 



CHAPTER I. 

A bird's-eye view of the VALIvEY. 

I PROPOSE to lead my readers in a leisurely conducted 
excursion through the rich and well-cultivated valley, 
which furnishes a general and, we trust, a happy home 
to most of them. The object of these rambles shall be 
to lead to the historic and the antique, in which this 
locality abounds, if indeed anything may be called an- 
cient in this our western country, save its rocks and 
hills, its forests and its water-ways. 

Although it is less than two centuries since our 
present blooming valley was still the exclusive do- 
minion of the Indians and their sometimes less savage 
neighbors, the wild beasts, and only since that time that 
the foot of the white settler first stepped .upon its soil, 
yet we are wont to speak of the rude relics left us by 
these first settlers — our ancestors — as ancient. Their 
primitive structures — whether they be houses or barns, 
churches or forts, mills or furnaces — over which a hun- 

(13) 



14 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

dred and fifty years or more of varied weather has beaten 
down, many of which have clustering about them in- 
teresting and important facts of history, while some 
bid fair to defy the gnawing tooth of time for another 
equally lengthy period — these ancient relics hold for us 
an enticing charm, and it is in quest of them that we 
shall undertake our pilgrimage. 

We shall take our weekly strolls on successive Satur- 
days, partly because it furnishes a half-holiday to many 
toilers, whom we would fain have accompany us, and 
because it enables the rising generation, our school 
children, for whose especial benefit these excursions 
are taken, to join the party. For we shall take these 
rambles now, while the schools are in session, in the 
hope that wlien vacation comes it may lead some 
bands of bright liistorians or juvenile "Old Mortalitys" 
to visit these spots in reality, and retrace anew the fad- 
ing epitaphs upon the moss-covered sandstones that 
mark the resting places of our earliest local pioneers. 
Therefore, as our present trip is taken in imagination's 
chariot, we shall allow no interruptions to interfere with 
this weekly trip, though "Old Prob." should decree to 
take vengeance upon us and impede our way with snow- 
banks or howling blizzards before the wintry season be 
o'er. Our flying Pegasus must carry us over all these. 
Only the touch of Providence upon the hand of the guide 
can stay his pencil, which shall serve as our wand. 

Before we undertake the journey, however, we will 
take a bird's-eye glimpse of the territory we are about to 



A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW. 15 

traverse. It is possible that most of our readers have 
before gone up and down our Lebanon Valley from Read- 
ing to Harrisburg. Perhaps they took their trip in pri- 
vate conveyance, or stage-coach, or old-fashioned "tally- 
ho," over the well-kept turnpike, that has for 78 years 
conducted visitors in rumbling coaches through the very 
heart of this district. Perhaps they have taken a trip 
on some canal-boat that formerly plied its way along the 
circuitous route of the Union canal, the first to be oper- 
ated in America, and abandoned only in 1884. Many, 
I know, have employed that more modern and speedy 
and comfortable mode of locomotion, the Philadelphia 
and Reading express train, and have been whirled 
through this garden land of our State. It is possible* 
that some have taken this trip afoot, and others still 
have wheeled through it on a Victor or a Columbia. 
Future travelers will doubtless make the journey by 
electricity, perhaps at no distant day on wheels, when 
the Lebanon and Annville street railway shall extend its 
lines to either terminus, or on wnngs, when Mr. Edison 
shall have completed his electrical flying-machine. 

But to-day we shall soar upwards with the eagle. 
Having no balloon at hand large enough to accommo- 
date my many passengers, I shall ask each one grace- 
fully to spread the pinions of his fancy while we vSoar 
away to the height of a few hundred yards, and look 
down upon our bustling valley as the swallows and the 
eagles do in summer. And we shall imagine it to be 
summer, to see the country clothed in its harvest riches 



l6 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and glory, as the writer saw it some years since, from 
one of the highest peaks that hem it in on the south. 

And now look to the east and west, to the north and 
south! What a magnificent country lies beneath you! 
Above the din of its noises let the valley's enrapturing 
beauty and boundless magnificence transport your soul! 
Let the extensive picture daguerreotype itself upon your 
mind and heart! What an empire of fertile farms! On 
and on the billowy fields are rolling, clad in the wealth 
of emerald beauty! On and on the terrestrial billows of 
this sea are flowing, one farm lashing against another, 
until ten miles to the north it strikes against its Blue 
Mountain promontory, while to the south this agricul- 
tural sea breaks itself up in green undulations of wood- 
land against the spurs of our South Mountain range. 
Between the Schuylkill on the east and the Susque- 
hanna on the west there is no break or limit to our 
vision. Beyond these borders, even, the eye can discern 
mountain ranges in the hazy distance. 

But what do we see in this broad expanse beneath our 
feet? Immediately beneath us. lies the queen of the val- 
ley, the proud young city of Lebanon itself, with a girdle 
of industries around her waist, alas ! now in part idle, 
and a crown of copper and iron upon her Cornwallian 
brow, alas ! now so poorly burnished ! Around this en- 
throned queen, on every hand, extending far as the eye 
can see, lie the rich and improved acres of our people, 
the best legacy which our German sires have left their 
sons and descendant heirs. The log cabins of the first 



17 

settlers have in most instances been displaced by coni- 
modions farm-lionses, many of them palatial strnctnres 
of stone or brick, whose domestic comfort and attraction 
hue the most fastidious. And what barns ! No com- 
munity on earth can boast of finer and larger barns than 
these "Switzers" of our Lebanon valley Pennsylvania- 
German georgic princes. Yet such is the skill of this 
king of farmers, the Pennsylvania-German, that even 
these gigantic storehouses are often known to overflow 
with farm products, and rows of hive-shaped stacks of 
hay and grain have to be set near by, as so many senti- 
nels to guard the rich farm treasures. 

Studding this valley, from the east to the west, are 
still preserved a sufficient number of significant land- 
marks to make our pilgrimage interesting. These are 
in the form of old churches and cemeteries, Indian forts 
and ancient dwellings, battlefields and illustrious graves, 
which we shall visit with sacred veneration, and by the 
aid of our magic w^and call up the dead from their graves, 
re-people the old dwellings, and, in short, rehabilitate 
the old scenes with actors and environments of a genera- 
tion that has passed away long ago. We shall cover es- 
pecially that district now included in the limits of 
Lebanon county or bordering close thereto. So, if you 
will join the party, gentle reader, be ready for our first 
tramp just a week from now. Until then, and in the 
hope of your landing upon terra Jijnfia from your aerial 
flio-ht, more safelv than did the famous Darius Green with 
his flying machine, we will separate for a brief season. 



CHAPTER 11. 

CONRAD WEISER'S HOMESTEAD AND GRAVE. 

Well, here we meet again ! Our flying steed has 
been restlessly pawing up the air for a week, eager to 
make the first trip of exploration promised in my former 
communication. So, if all my passengers are ready, I 
shall give the word to start. Therefore, all aboard^ and 
we'll be off. 

Inasmuch as we shall confine our excursions, for the 
present at least, as nearly as is practicable, to the terri- 
tory covered by our present county limits, we will take 
our first trip eastward, and begin our research just be- 
yond the county-line, and from thence work upward 
and westward toward home. I shall, therefore, to-day 
lead my readers to the almost sacred shrine of the pre- 
sent resting-place and former home of that famous, 
heroic, and many-sided and gifted pioneer of this val- 
ley, whose name deserves easily to stand first among 
the illustrious ancestors of this later generation, Conrad 
Weiser. Were due justice given this German hero and 
patriot, his name would doubtless stand among the first 
which our State has chosen to blazon upon her scroll of 
honor. 

Our best way to reach this historic spot is by taking 

(i8) 



CONRAD WEISER'S HOMESTEAD AND GRAVE. 19 

the well-kept pike and keeping on, until 14 miles to the 
East, we come to Womelsdorf, one of the first built 
towns of this valley, and about fifty years ago a most 
prosperous place of business, its stores then rivaling 
those of Readino^. Passing: throuoh this boroug^h and a 
quarter of a mile beyond, we come to a lane leading to 
the right, where, just across a meadow-field, cluster the 
capacious farm dwellings of the Weiser Homestead, now 



CONRAD WEISER'S HOMESTEAD. 

in the possession and occupancy of Mr. John Marshall. 
This courteous gentleman will be glad to show us what 
is of such intense interest here. First he will show us 
the old stone dwelling, which Weiser built early in the 



20 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



last century, but still kept intact. Although it is kept 
as a wash and slaughter-house, and for general storage 
purposes, yet we wander through it with bated breath. 
Curiosity holds sway over us as we travel from garret to 
basement, whither these early Tulpehocken settlers fled 



















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ANOTHER VIEW OF THE CONRAD WEISER HOMESTEAD. 



for refuge, and where we find a huge Queen Anne 
mantel-piece of solid oak, still as in the days when Maria 
Weiser (Conrad's eldest daughter, who later became the 
wife of that patriarch of the American Lutheran Church, 
Heinrich Melchoir Muhlenberg), there kindled the fires. 
We look at the quaint old structure with its low door, 



21 

and almost imao^ine this illustrious pair coming forth as 
bride and groom on that day in 1745, when they went 
to the Tnlpehocken Lutheran parsonage, to be united 
in the sacred bonds of matrimony, by the pastor, Rev. 
Tobias Wagner. 

We repair to the present farm house, and are glad, 
among other relics, to look at a parchment deed or pat- 
ent of land given the original settler by tlie Penn heirs 
John, Richard and Thomas Penn. Then we walk to 
the sacred spot that holds the dust of the illustrious and 
pious German pioneer of this valley. A plain sandstone 
is the only marker this grave has, though we are glad 
to say that an effort is now on foot by the public schools 
of Berks county, headed by its energetic Superintendent* 
Prof. W. M. Zechman, to put up at an early day a suit- 
able monument to Weiser's honor in the city of Read- 
ing. This movement has been seconded by the Board 
of Trade of Reading, and by the Pennsylvania-German 
Society at its last annual meeting. It thus bids fair 
soon to be realized. 

The Weiser burial plot is a patch of ground about 
forty feet square, not more than fifty yards removed 
from the old house, on a slight elevation of ground in 
the midst of a thriving orchard of apple trees. Here lie 
buried possibly a dozen different members of the Weiser 
family, together with a few Indians. Only the tomb- 
stone of Conrad and his wife (rather that of the wife of 
a son by the same name, as dates do not correspond with 
the marriage of the elder Conrad with his Anna Eva, 



22 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



whom tradition will make out to have been a squaw) 
are found remaining. Other graves are marked by 
broken or well-nigh buried lime-stone slabs. The epi- 




CONRA.D WEISER'S GRAVE. 



taph on Mr. Weiser's tombstone, recently retraced from 
its fading indistinctness under the ravages of Father 
Time's influences for nearly a century and a half, reads 
follows: 



CONRAD WEISER S HOMESTEAD AND GRAVE. 23 

Dieses ist 

die Rube Staette 

des weyl Ehren 

Geachten M. CON- 

RADI WEISERS. Der- 

selbige GebohreN 

1696 D. 2 November 

in ASTAET im Amt 

HerreNBerg, in Wit- 

tenberger LANDE. 

Und Gestorben 

1760 D. 13 Julius. 

Ist Alt Worden 

64 Jahr 3 M. 3 W. 6 T. 

This grave has been visited by many men and women 
since that eminent man was buried here, 134 years ago.* 
Hither the illustrious families of Weiser and Muhlen- 
berg and Shulze (including the once Governor of Penn- 
sylvania) and other descendants of fame have made their 
pilgrimages in respect to a worthy sire. But perhaps 
the most illustrious personage that ever visited the spot 
was President George Washington, who, during his 
second term of office, visited Womelsdorf and this 
grave, coming from Philadelphia. It was on November 
13 and 14, 1793, spending the intervening night in Wom- 
elsdorf, where he was serenaded by the citizens on the 
evening of the 13th. The reply to this greeting of the 
citizens is still preserved, and can be found in Rupp's 
history. The visit to Conrad Weiser' s grave was made 
on the morning of the 14th, we think, and doubtless 
with due thought of, perhaps in company w^ith the 



24 LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

illustrious grandson of Weiser, General Peter Muhlen- 
berg, who, in various battles of the Revolution gave 
such gallant and signal service to the great leader of 
the colonial forces. 

It would be interesting to lead the reader into the very 
interesting sketch of this Pennsylvania German leader in 
church and civil affairs, but we are rather interested now 
in historic landmarks than in biography. Besides, the 
general reader knows the honored role this man played. 
Let it suffice to say that our State furnished no character, 
not even the illustrious Franklin excepted, with whom 
he was frequently associated in public service, who, in 
that colonial period of our history, did so much for the 
amicable settlement of land disputes with the aboriginal 
Indians as Weiser did. Where Penn made one famous 
treaty, this man made scores, only alas ! for the poor 
German's future reputation, they were never blazoned 
so conspicuously on the pages of our histories. In every 
significant dispute or settlement of lands with the In- 
dians from Albany, N. Y., to Richmond, Va., between 
1732 and 1760, it is safe in assuming that Conrad Weiser 
played a prominent part. Now we find him with Benja- 
min Franklin, at Albany, N. Y., attending the first con- 
ference for Colonial Federation ; now with Governor 
Dinwiddie, of Virginia, settling a dispute and acting as 
Indian interpreter. Again we see him settling church 
disputes and healing factions in his own Tulpehocken 
Lutheran field ; and then he travels with Count Zinzen- 
dorf to Shamokin (now Sunbury) and aids in the estab- 



CONRAD WEISHR'S HOMESTEAD AND GRAVE. 25 

lishment of a Christian mission there among the Indians. 
At one time he is at the head of a regiment of German 
farmers, armed with flint-locks, pitch-forks, etc., march- 
ing against the invading French and Indian foes, and 
leading them all throngh the length of our valley from 
Reading to the Susquehanna. At another time he is in 
correspondence with Governor Morris for state aid and 
protection. Now he is a plain farmer in his Heidelberg 
homestead, which was a landmark already in 1740, and 
known on old maps simply as '' Weisers ;" then we find 
him as merchant or jurist in the city of Reading, or else 
assisting in laying out its streets. 

So, while we turn away from this grave, we know we 
have stood above the dust of a truly great man, for 
whose life our German people especially, and all the 
State as well, should ever feel a profound respect and 
grateful indebtedness. 

In the next chapter we shall pay a visit to the ancient 
town of Womelsdorf, founded by a relative of Weiser, 
and located on the edge of Weiser' s original farm. 



CHAPTER III. 

MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 

Less than half a mile to the west of Conrad Weiser's 
homestead and grave, situated on part of this pioneer's 
original farm of one thousand acres, and on the Berks 
and Dauphin turnpike, well shaded by an abundance of 
lindens and other copiously foliaged trees, nestles the 
healthy and handsome little town of Womelsdorf, 
formerly known as Middletown, because situated mid- 
way between the early advancing and out-striding towns 
of Reading and Lebanon. It is laid out on rolling 
ground, thus enabling the slightest rain to carry off 
every vestige of filth and decay from its streets into a 
streamlet of purest spring-water that flows by its base, 
and because of which superior surface drainage, it enjoys 
the reputation of being one of the healthiest towns in 
Eastern Pennsylvania. Its streets are regularly laid out, 
and the chief of them are lined with comfortable, and 
in a few instances, with elegant and palatial residences. 
These qualities, together with its quiet and its beautiful 
rural scenery and its close proximity to the mountains, 
(a spur of the South Mountain Ridge), and its many 
springs of excellent water, have made it a rendezvous in 
summer months for a considerable number of former 

(26) 



MIDDLETOWN AI^IAS WOMELSDORF. 27 

residents and their friends, who, when the dog-days 
drive them from their sweltering city homes, hie away 
to its cool abodes and shady streets. Thus it comes that 
modern Womelsdorf is quite a summer resort, and that 
every year a certain increasing number of pilgrims (the 
scions of old residents here), wend their pilgrimage to- 
wards this Mecca, and enroll themselves among its mid- 
summer guests. Nor have these any cause to regret 
their choice, based upon any inferiority in the social or 
intellectual qualities of its present citizens. 

So much for modern Womelsdorf. But we seek to 
explore the olden village of Middletown, and must, 
therefore, enter its ancient highway and walk along its 
original thoroughfares. An old map shows that one of 
the first roads of this portion of the county led from the 
Schuylkill Ford (where Reading now is located) to 
Weiser's, and past his residence on beyond the Blue 
Mountains, by way of Rehrersburg on to Sunbury. This 
road led past the Conrad Weiser home, just one field's 
breadth south of the present pike, and entered the town, 
as now built, through the corner lot of Mrs. Rev. Chas. 
Leinbach, obliquely across the pike where Mr. Fogel- 
man's residence is now located, past an old hostelry 
that used to stand on the fine lot of Mr. Harry Fidler, 
on across present building lots to where the present 
Rehrersburg road branches off from Franklin or "Blue" 
street. From this main thoroughfare two streets ran 
north and south, known by the suggestive names of 
"Schmalz-gass" and "Gnocken-strose." i\long these 



28 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

old streets are found to-day the oldest architectural 
landmarks i\i the shape of low, one-roomed, one-storied 
log cabins. Some of them have been repaired and re- 
modelled into convenient and more modern looking 
homes, while a few have been left undisturbed under 
the ravacjing- influence of time and weather since their 




SCHMALZ-GASS, WOMEI.SDORF. 

first erection, more than a century and a quarter ago. 
One of the best specimens of this latter class is the di- 
lapidated log-hut at the corner of Franklin street and 
Rehrersburg road, at present owned and occupied by 
Mrs. Williams, a soldier's widow, and another widow 



MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 



29 



woman by the name of McDonoiigli. The most inter- 
esting historic association attached to this old building 
is the fact that the same is pointed out as the place 
where the celebrated Baron Henry W. Stiegel, of Man- 
heim fame, when reduced in his worldly circumstances, 
ended his days in poverty, teaching an old-time school. 



%m 




THIC STlKGKIv SCHOOI. HOUSE, WOxMEI^SDORF. 

It is said that the Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, of Tulpe- 
hocken, knowing the worth of the man, secured him 
this position. It is known also that this once wealthy 
and philanthrophic Baronial prince served as clerk, and 
either with, or before, or for Mr. Ege, carried on the 
Charming Forge (on the Tulpehocken) and the Reading 



30 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Furnace (now the Robesonia Furnace). The Baron 
sleeps his last sleep in an unmarked grave of the Corner 
(Eck) church, north of Robesonia, while Mr. Ege rests 
in the Womelsdorf cemetery, with a humble stone 
marking the spot. 

Another old landmark is the stone house next the 




THE SEIvTZER HOUSE, WOMEI.SDORF. 



Lauck's mill in the eastern end of town, now occupied 
and owned by Mr. Isaac S. Bechtold. It was built in 
1756. Another is the Seltzer House, one of the few 
hotels of the place. It is built of solid limestone, origi- 
nally but two stories high, but since enlarged, and 
occupies a conspicuous place along its main street at 



MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 3 1 

the head of a diamond-shaped town square. It is said 
to be tlie oldest built house of the town, and claims to 
have lodged General Washington on one of his visits to 
this place. Certain it is that President Washington 
lodged here on the night of November 13, 1793, but two 
other hotels make rival claims for the honor of having 
furnished this shelter, viz., the Central Hotel, a public 
house at present kept by Mr. Isaac Y. Kintzer, and a 
former log hostelry known as the Middletown Hotel, 
occupying the lot on which now stands Mr. H. P. Fid- 
ler's handsome residence. It is quite probable that the 
illustrious General made several stoppages here, and 
that more than one of these old hotels had the honor of 
entertaining this distinguished guest. It is certain that 
in 1838 President Martin Van Buren, passing through 
town, breakfasted at the Seltzer House. 

The town itself was laid out about 1767 by John 
Womelsdorf, who was either a son-in-law or grand-son- 
in-law of Conrad Weiser. There are old persons still 
living, among others Mr. and Mrs. Michael Kalbach, 
octogenarians and life-long residents here (she being a 
daughter of Peter Womelsdorf, Esq., a soldier in the 
war of 181 2-1 5, and a grand-daughter of the founder of 
the town), who claim the former, but investigation into 
Conrad Weiser's family record disputes this claim and 
confirms the latter opinion. These aged informants 
recently helped the writer on the track of finding the 
original manuscript autobiography of Conrad Weiser, 
which contains most valuable historic and genealogical 



32 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

information, and from which a carefnl transcript was 
made. This account places the matter of John Womels- 
dorf marrying a daughter of Conrad Weiser in great 
doubt, and therefore almost settles the question of his 
marriao^e to a o rand-dan o-hter. 

This being part of the Tulpehocken settlement, all 
its first residents worshiped either at the Reed or the 
other Tulpehocken churches, or else later at the Heidel- 
berg or Eck's church, until the year 1793, when the 
first church of the town was erected. After this date 
most of the surrounding community worshiped here 
and buried their dead on the first graveyard here laid 
out. Hence, we find many of the old settlers here 
sleeping their last long sleep. The original walls of 
the Union (Lutheran and Reformed) church edifice are 
still standing, the building itself having undergone 
several remodelings. Last year the united congrega- 
tions celebrated the centennial of its erection and pub- 
lished a brief historical sketch, from which it appears 
that this church was served from 1793-1809, on the 
Lutheran side by Rev. C. Emanuel Schultze, for a few 
years assisted by his son, J. Andrew, afterwards Gover- 
nor of the State. 

Other Lutheran pastors : 

Rev. Wm. Baetes i8ro-i8ii 

Rev. Daniel Ulrich 1811-1851 

Rev. Thomas T. Yaeger 1851-1855 

Rev. Aug. Theo. Geissenhainer . 1855-1856 

Rev. Lewis G. Eggers 1856- (?) 



MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 33 

Rev. Jeif. M. Dietzler (?) -1865 

Rev. Aaron Finfrock 1865-1891 

Rev. W. W. Kramlich 1892-date 

The Reformed pastors were the following : 

Rev. Wilhelm Hendel, D. D 1 793-1829 

Rev. Frederick A Herman 1829-1834 

Rev. Charles A. Pauli 1834-1855 

Rev. Jacob D. Zehring ' 1855-1860 

Rev. George Wolf, D. D 1861-1879 

Rev. David U. Wolf 1879-1881 

Rev. Lewis D. Steckel 1881-1883 

Rev. Levi D. Stanibaugh 1884-date 

Of all these pastors, the body of Dr. Hendel is the 
only one bnried here. He sleeps near the chnrch door 
by the side of his wife, suitable stones marking the 
spot. He was quite a power in the pulpit, and in the 
ranks of the Reformed ministry, in his day. The sec- 
ond Reformed pastor was a native of Germantown, and 
one of five brothers in the Reformed ministry. They 
were long independent of Synodical ties, but formed 
with others a sort of "Free Synod." To this pastor 
the common remark, indicative of correct preaching 
but somewhat inconsistent living, is traced as author, 
viz.: "Folget meinen Worten und nicht meinen 
Werken." 

A stroll over the old cemetery shows us the names of 
old residents, long passed away, chiseled in fading epi- 
taphs on crumbling sandstone or erasive marble, and 
the exDcrience is somewhat like turning the pages of an 



34 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

album containing the pictures of old-time friends. 
Among these names are such as Fidler, Laucks, Leben- 
guth, Sallade, Buck, Moore, Tryon, Seibert, Kalbach, 
Bennethum, Schultze, Leiss, Ritschhart (Richard), 
Rieth (Reed), Ege, Ulrich, Stouch, Eckert, Ermen- 
trout, Weiser, Womelsdorf, Stites, etc. We found here 
the graves of a few children of Governor Shulze, who at 
one time resided in town, and also that of his brother 
Frederick, for years a successful merchant of this town. 
We arrange here a number of the oldest tomb-stone 
records, abbreviated, as it may serve some genealogical 
purpose some day, and be convenient for reference : 

1. W. S., 1728, U. S., 1799. 

2. Robert Woods [M. D.], B. 1765, D. [810. 

3. JABETZ Weiser, B. 1753, D. 1829. He was blind last years of 

life. His wife, Marialis Weiser, a born Wengert, B. 1754, 
D. 1835. 

4. Anna Catharine Sali^ade, wife of Nicholas, B. 1727, D. 1806. 

5. Christofer Ermentrout, B. 1754, D. 1825. Also Daniel Er- 

meutrout, B. 1798, D. 1836, and Samuel (son of Samuel and 
Maria Ermentrout,) B. 1835, D. 1838, and Maria Magdalena, 
born Moyer, wife of Johannes Ermentrout, B. 1774, D. 1846. 

6. George Ege, B. 1748, D. 1829. His wife Elizabeth, born Uber- 

feld, B. 1746, D. 1831. Also a son, Michael Ege, and his wife, 

A. M. Margaret. She was a daughter of Frederick A. Shultze. 
Another daughter of Shultze, Harriet, was married to John 
Ermentrout, of Reading, whose daughter, an invalid, is deeply 
interested in history and genealogical lore. 

7. MagdeIvA Ritschard (Richard), a born Reber, wife of John R., 

B. 1765. D. 1829. 

8. Peter B. Eckert, son of Peter and Susanna E., B. 1805, D. 



MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. 35 

1824. David Eckert, sou of Peter and Susanna E., B. 1795, 

D. 1825. 

9. Frederick A. Shui.tze, sou of Rev. Emanuel S., B. 1777, D. 
1836. Maria R. Shultze, his wife, a born Hiester. Catharine 

E. Shultze, his sister, daughter of Rev. Emanuel S., B. 1782, 
D. 1845. Elizabeth Shultze, daughter of (S. *M.). Andreas 
Shultze, B. 1802, D. 1802. 

10. Jacob Sei^tzer, B. 1732, D. 1788. 

11. EuzABETH Weiser, daughter of Benj. and Cath. Weiser, B. 

1801, D. 1803. 

12. John Bennethum, B. 1765. D 1828, and wife, Maria Barbara, a 

born Minnig, and son George. 

13. Peter Womelsdorf (son of John), B. 1787, D. 1843. 

14. Rev. Wm. Hendei., D. D., oldest son of Rev. John William and 

Elizabeth H., a born DeRoy, B. 1768, preached 50 years, D. 
1846. Revs. J. C. Bucher and Thos. Leinbach officiated. 

Here also is the burial place of Conrad Stouch, born 
1757, died 1840, who with Calder, of Harrisburg, owned 
the old-time stage line between Reading and Harris- 
burg, for whom Peter Kahl, of Lebanon, was a long 
familiar stage driver. He used to be proprietor of the 
Central Hotel. 

Other old congregations of town were the Presbyter- 
ian, Universalist, New Lutheran and Evangelical, all of 
which are now defunct, save the last named. The most 
prominent adherents of the Universalist church were 
the Longeneckers, the Manderbachs (then keeping a 
hotel and summer resort at the Springs, where now the 
Bethany Orphans' Home is located), the Von Neidas, 
and others. Its first pastor. Rev. Mr. Longenecker, lies 
buried on the Union cemetery. The church, which was 



36 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

a branch of tlie one at Reading, never prospered, and 
after some years the congregation was obliged to dis- 
band. So have the other churches disbanded and 
merged their membership with the two or three now 
existing congregations. 

The town enjoyed the distinction of being a far-famed 
business place at the end of the first quarter of this cen- 
tury. This was the case immediately after the opening 
of the Union canal, and for a decade or two afterwards 
it rivalled Reading itself as a business centre. Not less 
than ten flourishing stores were then found here, which 
drew their custom for many miles around. These were 
kept by the Moores, the Eckerts, Fred. A. Schultze, 
Hirsch, etc, The Ermentrouts (ancestors of the Judge 
of Berks county, and the other Reading Ermentrouts), 
and other parties here carried on a flourishing business 
in hat-making. 

Womelsdorf has also been noted for its eminent medi- 
cal men. The Tryons of several generations, and the 
Livingoods of at least three generations, the first of 
whom was a student and married the daughter of Dr. 
Michael Tryon (whose wife was Elizabeth Seltzer, and 
is buried here), the father of Drs. James C. and Louis A. 
Livingood, have given this town a reputation for its 
prominence in the medical science for a century past. 
Other doctors have been here to add to this reputation, 
such as Drs. Wood and Moore and Sallade and others. 

iVt present, and for some time past, the chief industry 
here is cigar manufacturing, which has flourished in 



MIDDLETOWN ALIAS WOMELSDORF. ^H 

snch hands as those of the well-known firms of A. S. 
Valentine & Son, Harry Fidler, Messrs. Balsley, Shaff- 
ner, Hackman, etc. When all these manufactories run 
full they employ several hundred hands, and furnish a 
self-sustaining revenue for these people and this town. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY. 

To-day I mean to take you to the site of the first 
church built within the valley. While the Scotch-Irish 
of Lancaster county founded a settlement north of the 
South Mountain ridge early in the last century, and 
soon established churches at Derry, Paxtang, etc., yet 
there is not any doubt that the Germans, who settled 
along the Tulpehocken, in the eastern portion of this 
valley, preceded these Presbyterians in the planting 
of their first church, and that therefore the first church 
ever erected in the valley, between the Schuylkill and 
the Susquehanna, was the original Tulpehocken church 
of the Lutherans, built in 1727, now known as the 
Reed's church. Though this first edifice has lone since 
given place to another, and this to a third, yet we shall 
visit the interesting spot and look into the remarkable 
life and history of this first local Christian congregation. 

From Womelsdorf we can travel up the turnpike 
until we have crossed the bridge that spans the Tulpe- 
hocken creek and the old Union canal, just a little east 
of Stouchsburg, and then turn to our right, where, a 
quarter of a mile to the north, on a slight eminence, 
stands the present church, a plain stone building bear- 

(38) 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALI.EY. 



39 



ing ill its western wall a stone with the lollowing in- 
scription: "Die Zion's Kirche Erbaut im Jahr, 1837." 
A better and more historic highway would be to take 
the narrow country road that skirts the Tulpehocken, 
and as this is the way the first settlers traveled, we shall 
choose it and accompany them to church. Hence, tak- 



"' >"'« V 




VIEW OF THE TUEPEHOCKEN. 

ing the Rehrersburg road at Steigel's famous school- 
house, and following it for half a mile to the northwest, 
we catch the first glimpse of the historic creek, along 
whose banks the events of this early settlement were 
enacted. Crossing this stream we turn to the left and 
follow the ancient road running parallel to this water- 



40 



LANDMARKS IN THK LEBANON VALLKY. 



course. The second farm-house is the old Losch home- 
stead, where lived an old Moravian family, by whom 
the early Moravian bishops and missionaries were often 
entertained while riding over this circuit. The house 
was erected by Johannes Jacob Losch in 1754, and his 
son or brother, George, was a leader in the Hebron 
Moravian church for many years. 




THE I,OSCH HOMESTEAD. 



A little farther up the road is the Reed homestead, 
which remains substantially the same internally as when 
erected in 1723, by Loenhardt Rieth, the donor of the 
eight acres of ground upon which the church was built in 
1727. The seventh lineal descendant, Mr. Franklin B. 
Reed still occupies this ancient homestead, and has gath- 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY. 



41 



ered into it many valuable local church documents, some 

family bric-a-brac, and a large collection of Indian relics. 

A short distance from this latter house stands the old 

Reed Church. Its location on a small knoll is alluded 




THE RKED HOMESTEAD. 



to in the following lines, from the pen of Mr. L. A. 
Wollenweber : 



Do droben uf dem ruiide Berg, 
Do stelit die alte Riethe-Kerch ; 
Drin hot der Parre Stoever schon 
Vor hunnert Jahr mancli Predigt thun 
Gepredigt zu de arme, deitsche Leit 
In seller, acli ! so liarten Zeit. 



42 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Auch wor die Kerch'u gute Fort 
Gegen der Indianer wilde Hort — 
Uii schliefeu drin gar manche Nacht, 
Die arme Settlers wo hen bewacht." 




FIRST TULPEHOCKEN (REEI^/ LUTHERAN CHURCH. 

The history of the erection of this first church, and 
the checkered story of its congregational life, to the 
present time is very interesting. It was in 1723 that 
about 60 families of German Lutherans immigrated 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VAI^LEY. 43 

hither from the Schoharie Valley of New York, where 
they had taken up a temporary abode in their flight 
from French Jesuitical persecutions in the Fatherland. 
Queen Anne of England proved to them a benefactress 
in sheltering them first of all in London, and then 
gratuitously transporting them to these new colonies of 
her realm. But the English money sharks up the Hud- 
son took the advantage of these innocent Germans, and 
soon beat them out of their possessions, when many of 
them came to this Tulpehocken country, and once more 
planted their humble huts in the wild forests among the 
Indians. They reached these parts by following the 
Susquehanna, until they came to the mouth of the Swa- 
tara creek, where now is situated Middletown; thence 
up this latter creek and across the divide, where they 
found this rich valley along the Tulpehocken. They 
were followed in 1729 by another exodus from Scho- 
harie, among whom was Conrad Weiser and his family. 
But scarcely had the first party arrived, and built for 
themselves humble sheltering homes, when they con- 
templated the erection of a house of worship. Accord- 
ingly a public meeting was called in 1727, to which 
they invited all the settlers in a circumference of twenty 
miles. This convention was held in a log house or 
Indian fort, standing on the banks of the Millcreek, 
near Newmanstown, which fort had been erected for 
protection and defence against the Indians. It gave 
place in 1745 to a stone-fort still standing, and to which 
I propose to lead my readers in a later excursion. 



44 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

At this called meeting the widely scattered German 
settlers were well represented. It is generally supposed 
that there was present also the Rev. Johann Casper 
Stoever, who afterward resided at Conestoga, Lancaster 
county, and in 1737 took up his abode in what is now 
Lebanon county, (two miles west of Lebanon, along the 
Quittapahilla), and lies buried at the Hill church on 
Lebanon county soil. But that statement is a mistake, 
for he did not land at Philadelphia from the Fatherland 
until September 11, 1728, or over a year after the above 
event. He did, however, soon after his arrival, become 
intimately associated with this church enterprise. But 
the erection of this first house of worship was wholly 
the work of the laity, and the credit belongs to such 
pious leaders among them as the Reith (Reed) brethren, 
Adam and Leonhardt, the former of whom is said to 
have presided at this meeting, and the latter to have 
donated sufficient land for church, school-house and 
burial purposes, over eight acres in all. One George 
SchoU is said to have made the motion to erect a house 
of worship, which was unanimously carried. Other 
leading lights in this convention were Michael Reith, 
Frederick and Michael Schaeffer, and Christopher 
Lechner, upon whom fell the choice of the superinten- 
dence of the erection of the building. It is asserted 
that in the devotions conducted at this meeting, Lu- 
ther's famous battle-hymn *'Ein Feste Burg," was 
sung. If it was not as well rendered as it was at the 
''Luther Entertainment " at the Fisher opera house 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THK VALLEY. 45 

recently by the hundred of Miss Munshower's trained 
singers, it must have been equally appropriate and just 
as thrilling. 

Under Mr. Lechner's superintendence, and by the 
assistance of men and women helpers, this first Tulpe- 
hocken church was completed in five months and dedi- 
cated in October of the same year (1727). It is not 
likely that any pastor was present at this dedication 
service, though it is generally claimed that Rev. Stoever 
officiated. If this, indeed, be true, then the church 
was not consecrated until a year after its completion. 
But as the parochial teacher stood next to the minister 
in official rank in those days, and as we know one was. 
long employed to conduct religious worship in absence 
of a pastor, and that the parochial school was estab- 
lished here from the beginning, it is possible that the 
first teacher, whose name was Jacob Hannmer, a native 
of Manheim, Germany, officiated at the dedication of 
this first church. 

The building consisted of hewn logs, with roof of 
thatch or tiles. The pews were made of the same ma- 
terial (logs with a hewn side for seats), while the pulpit 
was made of rough boards. An ordinary walnut table, 
34x48 inches in dimensions, donated by one of the 
Reiths, was used as altar and communion table, which 
identical table is still intact, the property of Aaron 
Snyder, Esq., a lineal descendant of donor, living at 
Mt. ^tna, Berks county. Pa. — a relic of 167 years. 

The question of employing a regularly ordained Lu- 



46 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

theran minister as pastor became the most puzzling 
problem to these early worshipers. There were then 
but very few German Lutheran pastors in the entire 
country, and probably not a single one within the limits 
of the State, as J. Casper Stoever is said to have been 
the first Germaji Lutheran pastor in Pennsylvania. A 
few Swedish and Dutch pastors had preceded him. So 
these people had to be content with lay preaching, and 
were thus liable to be often imposed upon. Now the 
Moravians, in the name and garb of Lutheran pastors, 
supplied their spiritual wants; now a parochial teacher, 
falsely claiming to have been ordained, assumed the 
office of the minister, until the congregation was thus 
thrown into almost hopeless confusion and into different 
factions. The troubles continued for a period of 10 or 
12 years, in which it was necessary to call in the officers 
of the law and the advice of church authorities in the 
Fatherland, and the German court preacher at London, 
Dr. Ziegenhagen. This dispute is described minutely 
in the "Halle Reports" {Hallischen NachricJiten) — 
being the preserved correspondence of these early Luth- 
erans wnth the mission school at Halle, Germany. 

The nearest justice of the peace was Wm. Webb, of 
Kennett, Chester county, who was lawful attorney for 
John Page, of London, the proprietor of these Tulpe- 
hocken lands under the title of the Manor of Plumpton. 
A document drawn up by this Mr. Webb, giving ex- 
clusive rights to church property to the Leibbecker 
party — one of the factions of this early dispute — and 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY. 47 

bearing date of January 22, 1735, is still kept as a relic 
by Mr. Franklin B. Reed, the seventh lineal descendant 
of the Leonhardt Reith who donated the church 
grounds, and whose old homestead, a quarter of a mile 
east of the church, we have described. Upon the death 
of Leibbecker, teacher and pastor, the Moravians made 
their appearance and offered to supply the pulpit with- 
out remuneration. Thus through Count Zinzendorf's 
supervision pastors of his appointment preached to one 
party of Lutherans for about eight years. But though 
these claimed to be Lutherans, it only widened the 
breach within the congregation, and led in 1742 to the 
founding of a new church, purely Lutheran, which 
erected its building about a mile west of the former 
edifice, and named itself Christ Lutheran church. This 
church, now generally known as the Tulpehocken Lu- 
theran church, has prospered very much more than the 
first from its very beginning, and will form the subject 
of our next sketch. 

Reed's church was brought back to the Lutheran fold 
through the influence of Conrad Weiser and his son-in- 
law, Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, in September, 1747, 
and has remained loyal to its first foundation ever since. 
The pastors who have served it since that time are Rev. 
J. Nicholas Kurtz, 1748-1770; Rev. Christopher E. 
Schultze, 1770-1809; Rev. Daniel Ulrich, 1811-1851; 
Rev. L. G. Eggers, 1852-1853; Rev. Thomas T. Jaeger, 
1853-1865; Rev. Aaron Finfrock, 1865-1886; Rev. E. 
S. Brownmiller, 1886-date. 



48 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

In the graveyard adjoining this ancient church are 
many old graves and quaintly engraved tombstones. 
It is well worth a visit to see the first Macpelah of these 
devout pioneers. The lessons one can learn of primi- 
tive art, orthography and genealogy, as he passes from 
one crumbling and moss-covered sandstone to another, 
will repay him for his trouble. Though they be but 
humble monuments, almost every old stone marks the 
resting-place of a hero, who has faced persecution, 
exile, poverty, and the cruel barbarisms of the red-man. 
We will give the inscriptions — minus the quaint art 
embellishments — of but two in closing this chapter. 
The one is that of the donor of the land — the other that 
one of Conrad Weiser's sons. They read as follows: 



1747 



HR LIGD BE- 

GRABEN OHAN 

LOENHARD RITH 

ER 1ST GEBOHREN 

1691 VND GESTORBEN 

1747 

ER HAT MIT SEINER 

HAVS ERAV ANA 

LISA CATHARINA 

GEZEVGT 8 KINDER 

65 OENKEI.EIN 



THE FIRST CHURCH IN THE VALLEY. 

Engraved on both sides: 



49 



UND IN 
SOI.CHKR ZEIT 
ERZEVGTE ER KIN- 
DER AIvS 3 SOEHNE 
UND I TOCHTERI^KIN 

OVON DAS 

TOECHTERI.EIN WIE- 

DER GESTORBEN 

UND 3 SOEHNE 

SIND NOCH AM 

I.EBEN 



DIESES 

1ST DIE RUHE 

STATTE DES WEYI.AND 

EHRSAMEN PHIIvIP 

WEISERS. DERSEIvBE WARE 

GEBOHREN IM lAHR 

1722 

DEN 7 SEPTEMBER UND 

GESTORBEN ANNO 

1761 
dEN 27 MERTZ SEI- 
NES AI.TERS 38 lAHR 
5 MONAT VND 4 
TAG VND HATTE IN DER EHE 
GELEBET 12 lAHR 4 MONAT 



CHAPTER V. 

THE SECOND TUI.PEHOCKEN CHURCH. 

We noticed in the last chapter that in consequence 
of the division and confusion of the original Tulpe- 
hocken congregation in its early history, a very large 
portion of the same withdrew in 1743, and erected 
a church of their own. We will to-day follow these 
seceders to the spot they then chose upon which to 
build their new church, and, while walking over these 
historic and sacred grounds, take a peep into the history 
of 150 years of local church-life. 

The faction withdrawing from Reed's church was by 
far the stronger of the two in numbers and influence. 
Though deprived of the use of the church edifice by the 
legal document alluded to in our last, they were the 
pure Lutherans in doctrine and practice, and were con- 
tending at that early period of American Lutheranism 
for the Reine Lehre of their ecclesiastical faith. 

Accordingly they were willing to make sacrifices and 
begin anew the building of a church and the develop- 
ment of true religion as confessed by their Church. 
There was, therefore, drawn up a document setting 
forth the principles upon which this new church should 
be founded — which carefully guards against their ad- 
mixture with any sects and errorists, by whom they had 

(50) 



THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH. 



51 



formerly been deceived. The same was signed by 166 
adherents, and the original copy placed in the corner- 
stone of the church, which was laid in May, 1743. 




f. ^: 



Tur^PEHOCKEN (CHRIST) I^UTHERAN CHURCH AND CEMETERY. 

Another copy of the same paper has ever since been 
carefully kept with the church archives, and was trans- 
lated into English and embodied, together with the 
names of the signers, in an historical address by the 



52 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Rev. F. J. F. Schantz, of Myerstown, which address was 
delivered at the sesqui-centeniiial services held last Sep- 
tember. We trust this very important address may 
some day be given the public in pamphlet form.* 

This second Tulpehocken church received the name 
of Christ Lutheran church, but has for years been 
known as the Tulpehocken Lutheran church. It 
stands about a mile west of the Reed church, just 
outside the western limits of Stouchsburg, and a few 
hundred yards south of the Berks and Dauphin turn- 
pike. The original building, which was probably of 
logs, and the foundation stones of which can still 
be seen, was replaced by a second one in 1786. This 
structure was of stone, and is still standing, a vener- 
able pile of solid masonry. Parts of the building 
have been renewed and remodeled, but the walls re- 
main intact, and bid fair to defy the ravages of time 
and the elements for another hundred years and more. 
The building was dreadfully shaken up by a dynamite 
explosion which occurred in the vicinity November 
6, 1884, and had all its woodwork destroyed by fire, 
caused by lightning, August i, 1887, yet the origi- 
nal walls are as solid, and stand as plumb, as when 
thev were first finished. At its last remodelinof, in 
1887, a marble slab was placed in its western side, 
showing to all visitors the following engraved record 
of pastorates: 

* It has since been so published. 



THE SPXOND TUI.PEHOCKEN CHURCH. 53 

PASTORS OF CHRIST'S TUI.PEHOCKEN I^L'THERAN CHURCH. 

Rev. Tobias Wagner, 1 743-1 746. 

Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, 1748-17 70. 

Rev. Christopher Emanuel Schultze, 1770-1809. 

Rev. Daniel Ulrich, 1811-1851. 

Rev. Louis E. Eggers, 1852-1867. 

Rev. Frederick P. Mayser, 1868-1873. 

Rev. A. Johnson Long, 1874- 

The time and place of the decease of such pastors, as 
have died, are appended to the above record. 

The interior of the church is modern in style and 
convenient in arrangement. With a basement for 
Snnday-school purposes, and an audience room on the 
second floor surrounded by a half-moon gallery, the^ 
church within is a thing of beauty as a rural edifice. 
Here worship regularly several hundred of the sturdy 
descendants of an even sturdier ancestry. 

Here have preached some of the most scholarly and 
eloquent ministers of the Lutheran church. Pastor 
Kurtz was a godly man, and a power in his day. From 
him have descended the family of Kurtzes, who in the 
ministry and the laity have been famous for a century 
in this branch of the American church. And seldom 
has a congregation the privilege of enjoying such intel- 
lectually strong and spiritual pastoral services as were 
rendered during the two long- continued pastorates of 
Revs. Schultze and Ulrich, the former the father of ex- 
Governor John Andreas Schultze, (now Shulze) of 
Pennsylvania, and the latter the father of a highly 
respected progeny still largely represented in this com- 



54 



LANDMARKS IN THE^ LEBANON VALLEY. 



















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TUIyPKHOCKEN I^UTHi'RAX GRAVEYARD. 

munity and throughout this valley. The bodies of both 
these godly men sleep within the old graveyard adjoin- 
ing. The epitaph of the former reads as follows: 



Ilier Ruhet 

Christoph Imniauuel 

Schultze, Prediger. 

war geboren den 

25 December 1740 

Saatfeld in Sachsen, 

Er kam in das 

Abend land 1765 

Im Ehestand lebte 

Er mit seiner Ehefrau 

Eva Elizabeth 43 Jahr 

Als Prediger stand er 

5 Jahr in Philadelphia 

und 2>^ Jahr in Tulpehocken, 

Hiuterlies 9 Kinder 

und starb den 11 Martz 1809 

Alt 68 Jahr, 2 Mouat 2 Wochen 



THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH. 



55 



By the side of Pastor Schultze sleeps his wife, who 
was a daughter of Rev. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, 
the Lutheran Patriarch, 'and a grand-daughter of Conrad 
Weiser, and the mother of Gov. Schultze. 

The epitaph of Rev. Ulrich is in English, and reads 
as follows: 



In 

Memory of 

REV. DANIEL ULRICH, 

Born 

near Annville, Lebanon Co., Pa., Aug. 

lo, 1789. 

He early dedicated his life to his 

God, and entered the ministry in 1809. 

He became the pastor of the United 

congregations of Tulpehocken, Rehr- 

ersburg, Heidelberg and others, whom 

he faithfully served from the year 181 1, 

to the year 185 1. 

Died June 2nd, 1855, while on a visit 
to Pittsburg, Pa. 

Aged 65 y, 9 m, and 22 days. 



The ancient cemetery contains many other old graves, 
which must have a meaning to the descendants, in 
many instances famous to-day in Church or State. We 
will mention but a few. For instance, the writer was 
astonished to find here the graves of Philip Breitenbach 
and his wife Elizabeth, evidently the ancestors of the 
family by that name at Gettysburg, who in a pkstoral or 



^6 



LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



professional capacity have served the Church for years. 
Here also lived and are buried the first and second 
generations of the ancestry (on the mother's side) of our 
U. S. Senator, Hon. J. Donald Cameron. The Senator's 
mother — wife of the late Hon. Simon Cameron — was a 
Brua, a Lutheran in faith, and a daughter of Peter 
Brua, who as a lay delegate from Tulpehocken helped 
to organize the General Synod of the Lutheran Church 
in 1820, and whose father, Peter Brua, was one of the 
early German settlers atj^Tulpehocken. His grave and 
that of his wife~are side by side in this graveyard, and 
the inscriptions on their tomb-stones read as follows: 



Hier Ruhet 




Hier Ruhet 


Peter Brua 




Maria Brua 
Ehefrau von 


war gtbohren 




Peter Brua 


den 2 Feber 1729 




Gebohren 


und starb 




1731 


den I October 180S 




Gestorben 


war alt 
79 Jahre 8 Monat 




1804 


73 Jahre 6 Monat 



But the spot in this city of last century's dead that 
holds the most charm for the visitor, if indeed a grave- 
yard can have charms, is that which, though unmarked 
by memorial stones, is pointed out as the resting place 
of the famed Hartman family, so cruelly murdered by 
the Indians, and whose captive daughter, Regina, and 



THE SECOND TULPEHOCKEN CHURCH. 57 

her surviving mother, form the principal characters in 
Rev. Dr. Reuben Weiser's interesting bpok, entitled 
"Regina, the German Captive." It is said that Regina 
herself sleeps here her last long sleep, and the spot of 
earth covering her dust is pointed out by the sexton, 
though not a marker is there to help the visitor, unat- 
tended by one who knov/s, to find the place. lyct us 
now turn away from these sacred surroundings, with 
their hallowed and historic associations, deferring, until 
the next chapter, a sketch of our visit to the more than 
interesting parsonage that stands within the shadow of 
this church. 
5 



CHAPTER VI. 

AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE. 

We shall to-day visit the Tulpehocken Lutheran par- 
sonage. And standing upon the threshold of this anti-* 
quated ministerial abode, I shall ask my fellow-explorers 
to step lightly and reverently on entering a door that has 




THE TULPEHOCKEN I^UTHERAN PARSONAGE. 

swung on its hinges for one hundred and fifty years to 
give entrance and exit, not only to the long line of its 

(58) 



AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE. 59 

pious and honored inmates, but to hundreds, yea thou- 
sands, besides. In addition to the usual social and parish 
visits made here in its long history, this is the door that 
has opened to many a hundred couple of young lovers 
who came hither to have nuptial knots tied by the 
dominie in charge. Here many another hundred calls 
were made to announce the death of some parishioner 
and engage the pastor's services for the funeral. Hither 
many an infant was borne by loving parents — though 
probably more to the church itself — to have the rite of 
holy baptism administered. While not all these official 
acts may have been performed in the parsonage, it ap- 
pears from an historical address delivered by Rev. 
Schantz at the sesqui-centennial celebration of the 
church, that there are records preserved showing that 
for a part of this period, covering a very large parish, 
the various pastors residing here officiated at 6,934 bap- 
tisms, 3,829 marriages, and 2,518 funerals. Of course 
the record is incomplete in every one item, as for pe- 
riods of years together one or the other class of entries 
was discontinued. 

Beyond a doubt, the most interesting wedding that 
ever occurred here was that of the Rev. Henry Melchoir 
Muhlenberg, the eminent patriarch of the Lutheran 
Church in America, then resident in Philadelphia, to 
Miss Annie Marie Weiser, a daughter of the celebrated 
Conrad Weiser. It was solemnized by the first pastor, 
Rev. Tobias Wagner, in 1745, and forms a most con- 
spicuous entry in the intensely interesting Church Re- 



6o I^ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

cord begun by him, and still preserved and continued. 
If, indeed, this illustrious pair were not married in this 
identical house, which seems to have been built a year 
or two later, it was yet solemnized on this spot, in a 
house adjoining, which as a part of a mill property, 
was then used as the pastor's residence, and which is 
still standing and in possession of the congregation. 

A book of accounts is kept at the parsonage to this 
day, as one of the congregation's most valuable historic 
relics, showing, in Pastor Kurtz's handwriting, an ac- 
count of receipts and expenditures in pounds, shillings 
and pence, contributed and disbursed during the building 
of this house. The erection of this building occurred 
during the first years of this pastor's official service 
here. He was called in 1746, and served as catechist 
until 1748, when at the first meeting of the oldest 
Synod of the Lutheran Church in America (the Minis- 
terium of Pennsylvania and Adjacent States), convened 
in St. Michael's Church of Philadelphia, he was or- 
dained as the first American Lutheran minister so set 
apart by order and act of an organized ecclesiastical 
body. It was, therefore, in the newly completed and 
occupied parsonage that he prepared himself for this 
Synodic examination. Whatever stress may have been 
laid by this young candidate for the ministry in his 
previous study upon purely theological points, the fol- 
lowing practical questions were some that were laid 
before him for answer, by the Committee, viz. : What 
are the evidences of conversion ? What is meant by the 



AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE. 6 1 

infiiience and blessings of the Holy Spirit ? Hozv do you 
prove that Christ zuas not only a teacher^ but that He 
made an atonement for the sins of man? etc. At his 
ordination, Rev. Hartwig preached from the words, 
"His blood will I require at thy hand." It may have 
been some impression made upon his mind by this ser- 
mon, that made this pastor of Tulpehocken such a 
faithful and earnest preacher and worker for souls. In 
all these perilous years (when in his home or on his 
journeys he was constantly exposing his life to danger 
from the attacks of the Indians, who frequently invaded 
the territory of his parish and tomahawked or scalped 
entire families, many of whom he was called upon to 
bury *) he kept faithfully at his post, never neglecting 
his work as pastor and preacher. 

It was while residing in this parsonage that his large 
family of children were born, consisting of nine sons and 
three daughters. The baptism of at least eight of them 
is recorded in the Church Record kept here. One of 
these is that of John Daniel, who himself became an 
eminent minister, and spent a few years of his life as 
assistant to his father, then residing at York, and later 
as assistant pastor to, and soon as successor of Rev. Goe- 
rock, of Baltimore. He was pastor of the first Lutheran 
church of that city for 46 years, when he retired, living 

* In a letter to Dr. Muhlenberg, in 1757, he says, that "on one day 
not less than seven members of the congregation were brought to the 
church for burial, having been murdered by the Indians the day 
before." 



6-2 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

to the extraordinary age of 93. He at one time refused 
a call from Salem Lutheran church of Lebanon. 

Another son of pastor John Nicholas Kurtz, of Tul-' 
pehocken, was long the parochial teacher of the York 
Lutherans. He was the father of the Rev. Dr. Benj. 
Kurtz — one of the most eminent men the Lutheran 
Church of America ever produced, who as preacher, 
author, editor of the LiUheran Observer^ and one of the 
chief founders of the institutions of classical and theo- 
logical learning at Gettysburg and Selinsgrove, and of 
the Evangelical Alliance, and as traveller abroad, has 
acquired a reputation as wide as the Church. 

A daughter of this Tulpehocken Pastor Kurtz, and 
born in this manse, afterwards became the wife of Rev. 
Jacob Goering, of York, concerning whom a church 
historian said, at the time of his death, "many genera- 
tions must pass away before the world will look upon 
his equal." Through the marriage of a grand-daugh- 
ter (the daughter of Rev. John Daniel Kurtz) this family 
also became connected with that of the gifted Lutheran 
divines, the Schaefifers, and their two children became 
famous, the one being Rev. Dr. Charles F. Schaeffer, 
long a professor at the Theological Seminary at Gettys- 
burg, and the other the wife of the Rev. Dr. Demme, of 
Philadelphia, one of the most learned men of this cen- 
tury. 

We see, therefore, what a celebrated progeny came 
from the family which occupied this parsonage for the 
first twenty years after its erection. 



AN INTERESTING OLD Mx\NSE. 63 

That Pastor Kurtz, the senior, was himself a man of 
eminent literary attainments, is inferred by the respect 
accorded him by so renowned a literary institution as 
the College of New Jersey, whose Faculty regularly 
sent him special invitations to attend their annual Com- 
mencements, though Tulpehocken was considerably 
distant from Princeton. 

But other prominent families succeeded that of Pastor 
Kurtz as occupants of this manse. His immediate suc- 
cessor was Rev. Christoph Emanuel Schultze, for several 
years previous the assistant pastor to Dr. H. M. Muhlen- 
berg, of Philadelphia. He was a native of Saxony, 
Germany, and a graduate of the institutions at Halle.* 
He arrived in this country in 1765 newly ordained to 
the ministry, and as associate of Dr. Muhlenberg served 
both the St. Michael's and Zion's churches of Philadel- 
phia. The latter was founded during his ministry 
there, and was, at the time, regarded as the handsomest 
church edifice in this country. It was to this church that 
Congress repaired in a body to express thanksgiving to 
God for the victory of the Revolutionary army and the 
restoration of peace on the surrender of Cornwallis at 
Yorktown. The same edifice had also been used as a 
hospital by the British during their occupancy of Phila- 
delphia. But Pastor Schultze had left Philadelphia 
long before this occurred, although he was strongly 
urged by this flock to return. He took up his abode at 
Tulpehocken in 1770, having previously married Eva 
Elizabeth, daughter of Patriarch Muhlenberg. Here he 



64 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

labored, occupying this manse, for thirty-eight years, 
with the house again, as in the case of Pastor Kurtz, 
filling up with children. There were nine children in 
all, of whom the most conspicuous was John Andrew, 
born here, who, after a short ministerial career, entered 
secular life and served this State for two terms as Gov- 
ernor. His administration is still conspicuously re- 
membered for its justice and intelligence; and Ivcbanon 
enjoys the proud distinction of having numbered him 
as one of her residents when his fellow citizens of the 
State elevated him to this high office. 

The many arduous and fatiguing labors of Pastor 
vSchultze so enfeebled his body, that during the last 
year of his life he had often to be assisted to the pulpit. 
The Sunday preceding his death he was too weak to 
leave the house, so he summoned the congregation to 
the parsonage, where he preached his last sermon. The 
following Saturday, March ii, 1809, he fell asleep in 
Christ, following his lamented wife, who had a few 
months previously preceded him to the bosom of a lov- 
ing Saviour. Rev. Dr. Lochman, of Ivcbanon, preached 
his funeral sermon the following Wednesday, from the 
words : "If any man serve me, let him follow me ; and 
where I am, there shall also my servant be." A por- 
tion of Pastor Schultze's valuable library was after- 
wards presented to Pennsylvania College. 

All the successors in this historic parsonage have 
helped to make the abode famous by long residence and 
noble deeds. Here the well-remembered Rev. Daniel 



AN INTERESTING OLD MANSE. 65 

Ulrich, a native of Jvebanon county, resided for forty 
years. He was followed by the families of Parsons 
Eggers, Mayser and Long, the last of whom is now the 
genial occupant, who, with his accomplished wife, has in 
training a small family of children, whose noble deeds, 
we trust, will keep up the good repute this abode has 
gained by the high character of those who have dwelt 
here or gone out from hence. 



CHAPTER VII. 

A WELL-PRESERVED INDIAN FORT. 

To-day we shall turn away from the pious and peace- 
ful scenes of churches, graveyards and parsonages, and 
visit a relic that speaks to us of the perils and trials of 
Indian warfare. It is well worth our study to know 
what our forefathers endured in those early days in con- 
sequence of their treacherous and oft barbaric neighbors 
— the red -skinned savages. For this purpose let the 
mute monuments of heroic defense and protection, still 
found here and there throughout our valley in the shape 
of strongly-built Indian forts, be our teachers. We turn 
away, therefore, from the long-honored and historic 
abode of five generations of preachers to one of the best 
preserved houses of refuge and defense against these 
savage hordes. As this is still keeping its vigil in this 
valley, and is close at hand, let me lead the way to it. 

Striking right across the country from Stouchsburg to 
the south, past Sheridan station on the Lebanon Valley 
railroad, we keep on the Mill Creek road, due south, for 
another half mile, when we come to the Zeller home- 
stead, and here we find, on the banks of the Mill Creek, 
this interesting relic of those ancient and trying times. 
It is commonly known as the Zeller Indian fort, because 

(66) 



A WELL-PRESERVHD INDIAN FORT. 67 

originally built by a Zeller, and since the land, upon 
which it was erected, is claimed never to have gone out 
of Zeller hands to the present time. 

The fort is a well-sized and well-proportioned stone 
structure, a story and a half high, built with a capacious 
cellar, half under ground, from which flows a strong 
and beautiful stream of clear water, having its rise here 




ZEIvI<ER INDIAN FORT, BUILT IN 1745. 

in a perennial spring. It was erected by Heinrich Zel- 
ler, in 1745, as is shown from an engraved headstone 
within the wall. It is kept in good repair, used mostly 
for a farmer's storage house at present, but until the 
present generation had long been occupied as a weaver's 
shop. About fifty feet away, the place is pointed out 
where Heinrich Zeller, in 1723, built the first house of 
logs, which it is claimed was the first meeting place of 
those early Schoharie settlers for worship and defence 



68 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. . 

and mutual conference. Here it was where action was 
taken to erect the first house of worship in 1727, which 
led to the erection of the original Tulpehocken Church, 
already described. This house was displaced, in 1745, 
by the stone fort in question. The name of Henry 
Zeller frequently occurs in the Colonial Records of that 
day, principally in connection with correspondence con- 
cerning the title to his lands. It seems there was con- 
siderable difficulty in gaining a good title, as we find it 
was 1743, or twenty years after settlement here, that he 
obtained legal papers. These documents are parchment 
deeds, or land patents, bearing the signature of the 
Penn heirs, John, Thomas and Richard Penn, and are 
still preserved among the family archives. 

Thus this permanent building was not erected until a 
good deed had been secured for the land upon which 
this original settler had squatted, and which he had 
meanwhile improved, and possibly later satisfactorily 
paid for to the proper owners. 

The occasion for building the^ house in the form of a 
citadel, or refuge fortification, was constantly at hand. 
Many were the cruel depredations of the red men in 
that period. Frequently the Indian war-whoop was 
heard, and the tomahawk and scalping-knife were flour- 
ished by these savage foes. Many an unwary white 
traveler or tiller of the soil was dispatched, and fre- 
quently whole families were scalped and butchered. 
These houses of refuge were therefore erected in differ- 
ent parts of the settlement, to aflford the settlers of each 



A WELL-PRESERVED INDIAN FORT. 69 

locality a safe rendezvous, whither the community could 
flee for safety at the first signal of peril. Thus we find 
a considerable number of buildings still standing 
throughout our valley that were used for this purpose. 
This one was among the first to be erected, and most 
centrally situated for the earliest settlement. 

The building itself is a curiosity. Its walls are two 
feet thick, and laid up with many large and well-dressed 
stones. Its door-posts, about five and a half feet high, 
and the lintel, fully three feet long, are single sand- 
stones, with some attempts at carved ornamentation 
upon them. The head-stone over the door, and the 
slab bearing name and date, have rather elaborate fig* 
ures and lines carved upon them. The door is broken 
into two, like ordinary stable doors, and consists of 
double inch boards pegged together with wooden pins. 
An iron catch, or staple, on the inside, soldered with 
lead into the stone door-post, catches the heavy iron 
latch that closes the door< All the windows were origi- 
nally but small square port-holes in the wall ; but three 
of these have since been enlarged into the size of ordi- 
nary windows, for the accommodation of the cloth 
weaver who plied his craft here a generation or two 
ago. The rest remain intact. So does the building 
throughout. Its main floor, over the cellar, is arched 
below and leveled with stone and earth. A huge and 
quaint Queen Anne fireplace, twelve feet wide, graces 
the kitchen part of the house. In the wall, forming 
the chimney, is a crack or mark, which tradition says 



70 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. / 

was made by a cannon ball shot throuo^h one of the 
port-holes during the Colonial struggles with the 
French and Indians. The writer has seen both the 
break in the wall and the cannon ball, which is pre- 
served here, but he is not prepared to authenticate the 
story. It is an historical fact, however, that in 1755 
these hostile forces crossed the Susquehanna from the 
west, and invaded this eastern territory. It was at this 
time when Col. Conrad Weiser wrote his rousinor let- 
ters to the proprietary Quaker government of the State, 
with headquarters at Philadelphia, urging speedy efforts 
at defense of its citizens. At the same time he himself 
summoned together the farmers of this community, and 
at this very house (if, indeed, the claim made by a cer- 
tain writer be correct, that this was then the residence 
of Benjamin Spycher, which, however, is gravely 
doubtful,) organized a company of over three hundred 
men, who, after summoning Pastor Kurtz to address 
them and offer a prayer in their behalf, marched up the 
valley towards the Susquehanna, with their weapons of 
pitchforks and flintlocks, to repel the foe. 

An interesting story is told, on what seems reliable 
traditionary evidence, of how the heroic wife of Hein- 
rich Zeller, Christine by name, one day, while all alone 
in the house, decapitated, with a broad-ax, three prowl- 
ing and plundering Indians at the cellar loop-hole. 
This hole is on the side on which the water flows out 
from the spring within, and is shown in the foregoing 
cut. Seeing the plunderers stealthily approach this 



A WELL-PRESERVKD INDIAN FORT. 7 1 

spot, sneaking up the little streamlet, she is said to have 
quickly descended the cellar 'steps from within, and 
stationed herself alongside this opening with weapon 
upraised. Presently the head of the first Indian pro- 
truded through the hole, when down came her weapon 
with a heavy blow. It had its desired effect. Promptly 
dragging the trunk through the hole, she, in a disguised 
Indian tongue, gave notice for the other two to follow, 
as all was right within. Presently the second victim 
followed, whom she dispatched in the same bloody man- 
ner — likewise the third ; glorying on the return of her 
husband at night, like Deborah of old over her conquest 
of their treacherous Gentile foes. 

The Zeller homestead, consisting of a farm of over 
200 acres of rich land, upon which are erected a large 
and inviting stone mansion and all the necessary farm- 
buildings in proper proportions and style, near which 
this ancient fort is keeping its watch, is now the prop- 
erty of Mr. Monroe P. Zeller, the eighth lineal descend- 
ant of the original Heinrich. He is a brother-in-law of 
Rev. Bach man, the Reformed minister of Schaefifers- 
town. He is himself talented and cultured. A graduate 
of Franklin and Marshall college and of several musical 
conservatories, he made a small fortune in giving in- 
structions in music in Louisville, Ky,, with which 
money he has purchased and improved the old home. 
He has travelled abroad and brought with him vines 
and shrubbery from many an interesting shrine or 
locality of Great Britain, Germany and Scandinavia. 



72 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

When the writer first visited the place, a few years ago, 
the spacious yard abounded with evergreens and choice 
vines from different countries of Europe, while the east 
end of the '' fort " itself was spun over with a luxurious 
growth of Scotch ivy, brought directly from Holyrood 
Castle. The old homestead has many charms, and is 
well worth a visit some summer day, by any one in love 
with nature, art or history. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

AN ANTIQUATED VILLAGE. 

If my readers will follow me one-half mile to the 
southeast, from the Indian fort last visited, I will bring 
them to one of the oldest villages in the valley. In 
appearance it has perhaps changed least of any of the 
first dorfs reared by these early settlers. It is the vil- 
lage of Newmanstown, situated in the northeast cor- 
ner of Millcreek township, Lebanon county, and at 
the intersection of the Schaefferstown and Womelsdorf 
road with the Sheridan and Lancaster county road, 
which leads through the South Mountain gap or pass. 
It formed an early trade and home center for the first 
settlers of this community. Let us together take a 
walk through its one long street. 

There is nothing to indicate that its first land-owner 
and founder was not a full-blooded German except its 
name. We feel confident that were some weary traveler 
of Germany, some scissors-grinder or Jewish peddler or 
other tramp, to fall asleep some night after a day's 
weary march from village to village in one of the rustic 
hamlets in the heart of Germany, and during his slum- 
bers be transferred to the village now in question and 
awaken here, he would scarcely discover that he was 

(73) 



74 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

not in Germany still, so genuinely Fatherlandish is 
everything in the architecture and manners of this 
well-preserved hamlet of a century and a half ago. 

We will not have gone a dozen yards in our ramble 
before pictures of German village life, as it existed at 
the beginning of the last century, impress themselves 
upon our view on every hand. We will discover that 
whatever specimens of foreign village scenes were 
shown the visitors of Midway Plaisance at the World's 
Fair last year, the best type of a German village is 
found here at Newmanstown. The street is wide and 
well graded, but the pavements have received little 
attention. There may be attempts at paving here and 
there by the use of irregular pieces of flagging or 
patches of coppery-greenish brick walks, but generally 
the spaces before the little one-storied huts are covered 
over with grass, while narrow, well-beaten footpaths 
lead through the same. Curbstones are generally miss- 
ing. One is obliged to make sudden rises and descents 
in walking along, like unto the varying cadences in 
music, so uneven is the grading. Fully half the houses 
along its main street, wdiich is "close unto a mile" in 
length, are the originally low, one-storied log cabins, 
some receiving more recently tight-fitting bodices of 
weather-boards. Our city (Lebanon) has specimens of 
these early dwellings in the older portions of Chestnut 
and Walnut streets, and a few excellent types on North 
Sixth street. Some of these Newmanstown homes still 
wear their original covers of straw or tiling, their roofs 



AN ANTIQUATED VILLAGE. 75 

SO low that the pedestrian sauntering along might 
almost touch the eaves. One of these houses may be 
on a slight elevation of ground, while its next door 
neighbor seems to be anxious to hide itself in its own 
cellar. The needful but unexpected slopes or steps that 
accommodate the saunterer on its streets to these rises 
and deflections are what are doing the mischief to his 
unaccustomed feet, leading the strange wayfarer into 
many a stumble or misstep. 

The wiser way of getting along here is to follow the 
custom of its own citizens and exchange pavement for 
street. And this we will do. It may result in making 
us a trifle more conspicuous, but then the chances are 
we will be stared at nevertheless, not for any novelty in 
this respect, but because of our own expressions of sur- 
prise and wonderment, and because the windows of 
these one or two-roomed huts have been made to front 
on the street and to look out by. But this walk 
through the middle of the street will bring us right to 
the antiquated well, found in the central spot, where for 
a century and a half these pleasant villagers have been 
drawing their water. It is a pity that the old sweep 
has been exchanged for the more modern pump-handle 
with which to bring up the cooling draught. That 
would complete the picture of rusticity and antiquity. 
For the cackling goose, and the village gossip, and the 
cow or horse watering at its trough, are seldom missing 
to give the picture reality. 

Along this street we see among these first dwellings 



76 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and their more modern and pretentious neighbors now 
studding the village on every hand, the old-time artisan 
shops, in line with these homes and fronting on the 
street. Here half a dozen generations of honest and 
busy mechanics have plied their honest crafts and eked 
out an humble living. The lively ring of the tempered 
steel upon the anvil gives notice that we are approach- 
ing a brawny smith's establishment. The leather chips 
on the sidewalk betray that we have reached a cobbler's 
or saddler's headquarters, while another window may 
give us a glimpse of the tailor, as he sits cross-legged on 
his table. So we will pass the lock or gunsmith shop, 
the broom-maker's shanty, the cooper's establishment, 
the turner's, weaver's or tinner's workshop or ware- 
room — likewise the factory of that more modern crafts- 
man, the cigar-maker. But here all trades are upon the 
same level — the level of the street; and all craftsmen 
put on the same bold front — the frontage on the street. 
Even a few offensive barnyards have not in these 150 
years been relegated, by this simple peasantry, whither 
they deserved to be put, on the back of the lot, or 
" into innocuous desuetude." 

As we pass along we see here an octogenarian on his 
portico, resting the weight of his body and years upon 
his tottering cane. Now we pass a rosy-faced matron 
down on her knees at the front stoop, scrubbing the 
door-step with a determination as if the salvation of her 
soul depended upon it. Perhaps it does. At least she 
does not allow any externals to interfere with her task 



AN ANTIQUATED VILLAGE. 77 

of working it out with a good deal of shaking, if not of 
fear and trembling. Now the cripple upon his crutch 
passes us, and then that ubiquitious unfortunate of every 
old town, the demented, meets our eye, whose vacant 
stare and incoherent utterances tell the character, if 
not the story, of his affliction. The dogs recognize us 
as strangers, and vociferously chide us for our mental 
criticism of their goodly province. 

Having finally completed our stroll, I must take time 
to tell you of the village's history, and give you an ac- 
count of its more modern improvements. Instead of 
being founded by a German, it was an Irish immigrant 
who first planted his home here, and, securing posses- 
sion of the land, began to lay it out in village building 
lots. This person was a Mr. Walter Newman, who 
purchased of the proprietors of the Province of Pennsyl- 
vania, October 30, 1741, a tract of 234 acres of land. 
Lots were at once sold on the "ground rent" plan, and 
the earliest name given the village was Newbury, In- 
dentures are still on record which describe the lots 
disposed of, and on what terms sales were made at that 
early day. Much of this tract remained, by transfer 
from father to son, in the Newman family unto the end 
of the last century, by which time "Newman's Town" 
is described by a certain Lancaster document as being 
"on the Great Road leading to Reading." To this 
very day almost the entire town is under the curse of 
that system of taxation, adopted and made forever obli- 
gatory by its founder, of leasing lots for the consider- 



78 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

ation of a yearly rent. Even a large portion of the 
surrounding country was for some time under this feu- 
dal system. 

Let no one imagine, however, from the foregoing 
account, that the inhabitants of this ancient hamlet are 
fossilized. Although there are many antiquated relics 
in the shape of dwellings, yet there have been rising up 
during the last decades many lovely and imposing 
structures, used as homes or business places. The 
streets leading out of it in every direction are models 
for grading, piking and good-keeping generally. There 
is much less mud there in a square mile of roadway 
than in one block of Lebanon's highways. Nor does 
the old pump any longer serve as chief supply to the 
villagers of the crystal beverage, inasmuch as a few 
years since the coldest and clearest of mountain water 
was introduced from the Gold Springs of the South 
Mountain "Kluft." It is said when the trenches were 
dug to lay the main pipe of this water supply that a 
rare old relic was found imbedded in the earth. This 
was a clay or stone Indian pipe, in the shape of a toma- 
hawk, bearing the name of William Penn upon its 
bowl. I cannot vouch for the correctness of the rumor, 
but heard it at the time it was said to have been found, 
and from men of the community. Neither could I give 
any relic-hunter direction as to where this rare speci- 
men is now kept. 

Nor has this village failed to furnish its due quota of 
progressive and useful men. From its citizens have 



AN ANTIQUATED VILLAGE. 79 

come a number of men who have graced all the learned 
professions and nobler walks of life. Perhaps the most 
conspicuous illustration of this truth, however, was in 
the person of Prof. Lawrence J. Ibach, but recently 
deceased. A native of Allentown, Pa., he moved hither 
with his parents at the age of 19. He was by trade a 




STREKT SCENE IN NEWMANvSTOWN, PA. 

skillet and ladle-maker, which trade he here followed, 
and never wholly forsook to the day of his death, though 
higher honors and more important labors were heaped 
upon him. Through business relations with a Mr. 
Seidle, from whom he had for a few years rented a forge 
near Reading, he became acquainted with the latter's 



8o LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

uncle, Mr. Charles F. Engleman, who was at that time 
quite a noted astronomer. This acquaintance rekindled 
a boyish love for mathematics and astronomy, and 
brought Ibach into special favor with this scientist. At 
the latter's death, in i860, he left his unfinished publi- 
cations to Ibach to finish, who, falling heir to all neces- 
sary books and charts, returned to Newmanstown to 
become an astronomer. From this place, for almost 
30 years, he sent out his astronomical calculations 
and almanacs to many firms in our country and to a 
number in Cuba, South America, and other foreign 
countries.. He furnished his publications in four differ- 
ent languages, French, English, Spanish and German. 
A simple, unpretending frame house in this village 
constituted his home. In the rear of this was the phil- 
osopher's workshop, where were found all the appurte- 
nances of such a scientist. Maps and charts upon the 
walls, mounted globes, telescopes, stacks of books, many 
of them rare and important, recounting astronomical 
observations of thousands of years ago, and giving 
reminiscences of the Ptolemies, Thales and Meton, or 
the opinions of Kepler, La Caille, Lambert, Huygens, 
Galileo and others, stocked well this study. From this 
room, and the master brain that ruled here, this humble 
village has for three decades had the distinction of 
catching a strange light from the sun, the moon, the 
planets and all the stars, and reflecting the same to all 
the quarters of our globe. 

" Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 
The dark unfathomed caves of ocean bear." 



CHAPTER IX. 



AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL. 



Having in my last left my company in the heart of 
the antiquated hamlet of Newmanstown, reflecting- upon 
the philosophic genius who here, "far from the mad- 
ding crowd's ignoble strife," for so many years kept the 
noiseless, though not fameless, tenor of his way, I will 
start the march to-day on an old Indian trail that led * 
right through this territory. As we are in search of 
ancient landmarks, we shall not pass by one that nature 
herself has built and in point of age and durability shall 
outlive the grandest monument reared by the hand of 
man. I want to point out the ineffaceable relic of bar- 
baric America, when the elements, the wild beasts and 
the red men held exclusive sway over this valley. In- 
deed, this landmark is older than man or beast. It 
points to primitive time. It is the gap in the South 
Mountain, just south of the village last visited, through 
which pass, or "Kluft" (as the villagers prefer to call 
it), led the old trail of the savages from their village or 
settlement on the forks of the Susquehanna, where 
Sunbury is now located, to the Penn treaty grounds 
on the banks of the Delaware. 

When the first settlers came to this valley from Scho- 

(8i) 



82 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



liarie County, N. Y., in 1723, there were Indian villages 
or traces of them all through this valley. But the most 
significant local settlement or centre of the aborigines 
then v^as beyond the Kittatinny at Shamokin, now Sun- 
bury, from whence led this trail in an almost direct line 
to the settlement of the peaceful Quaker and h's friendly 






THE " KI^UFT " NEAR NEWMANSTOWN. 

neighbors, these red-skinned brethren. This trail led 
through the Kittatinny or Blue Mountain range, at the 
Swatara gap, and from thence in a direct line to the 
South Mountain pass or gap. 

Along this route, almost identical with the pipe-line 
which the Standard Oil Trust has since drawn trans- 



AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL. 83 

versely across our valley, carrying another kind of fire 
and in liquid form — that representing the civilization of 
our day — the journeys on foot or on the backs of Indian 
ponies, were taken to and fro by these first monarchs of 
our then measureless forests. What an army of unlet- 
tered barbarians passed up and down this grand old 
mountain pass! What generations of unprogressive free- 
men here preceded us! What restless hordes prowled 
about this old landmark of nature when the day of civili- 
zation dawned upon this western hemisphere, as so many 
owls and bats flutter to their holes, or so many prowling 
panthers to their cavernous lairs at the approach of day! 
Over it they travelled with reluctant and oft defying* 
feet, in search of other hunting grounds. Let us climb 
this pass together in recollection of all these events. 

We need not be apprehensive of any danger, although 
the way seem weird and the inhabitants but few. We 
will be in no peril. The war-whoop of the last fighting 
savage has long since died away with a succession of 
echoes that have reverberated among the rocky moun- 
tain sides that hem us in. It may be that an occasional 
wild-cat and some stray fox may sometimes venture out 
of their hiding place to look for prey or to see what use 
their once exclusive domain is put to, yet these will not 
do any harm to innocent students of history. So let us 
proceed on our tramp unmolested. 

From Newmanstown we go directly south, along one 
mile of the best piece of road of which this county can 
boast. It is as straight as a stretched line, having good 



84 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

post fences on either side, and wide as a Chicago boule- 
vard. It is well-graded and kept in first-class repair. 
We think much credit must be due the Messrs. Long, 
who own most of the property along this rural avenue, 
and have lived for many years in wealth and luxury at 
the base of the mountain. Not long ago the senior 
brother died in his palatial home located here. 

Besides being a farmer and stock-raiser, he was a 
wholesale commission merchant, with stores in New 
York City, where he usually spent his winters. Large 
ice houses are located here, in which are stored during 
the summer immense quantities of eggs and butter for 
winter sale. This business has made this man a mil- 
lionaire, which large fortune has been partly spent in 
valuable local improvements of the character described. 

Having reached the foot of the mountain, we here 
find a little peasant hut standing guard on the entrance 
of this Alpine-like pass. In front of it is a watering 
trough, into which a boisterous brooklet dashingly 
pours its crystal beverage. All along the up-grade of 
our winding roadway, we hear the babblings of a tur- 
bulent mountain brooklet, sending its waters in haste 
over its rocky bed, until it foams and murmurs like a 
panting thing of life driven by some deadly foe. Now 
it leaps in broken sprays over a steep precipice, then it 
dashes against some rocky barrier that completely turns 
its course. But on and on it flows, taking no time to 
rest on its way or to parley with its occasional visitors, 
only in the language of Tennyson's famous brook, 
keepiug up its song : 



AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL. 85 

*' Men may come and men may go 
But I flow on forever." 

On either side of our rustic up-way are found small 
springs to feed this streamlet. The largest and most 
famous of these is what is called the "Gold Spring," 
which is about halfway up the gap on the right-hand 
side of the road. It is worth a trip from any part of the 
country to dip one's cup into its placid depths and quaff 
the sparkling ice-cold draught, that has just bubbled up, 
through golden sands, from its subterranean fountain, 
whence all springs flow. Doubtless the Indian and the 
deer often slaked their thirst at this spring. At present 
it supplies the dam from which Newmanstown draws its « 
water. Oh ! for such a waterhead for Lebanon and 
some one to lead it into our homes ! 

As we ascend let us take notice of the formation of 
the hills about us. On the right hand a gigantic prom- 
ontory frowns down upon us. For hundreds of feet the 
crest rises almost perpendicularly from this gap, and 
early in the afternoon casts its shadow into the cleft 
below. One of the prettiest sights in nature is to see 
this hill outline itself on an afternoon in charming 
elongations of its shadow upon the opposite hillside. It 
may be seen any sunny afternoon and for miles away. 

The left-hand side of the hill has exhibitions of vio- 
lent convulsions of nature in the formative period of the 
earth. Monstrous forces must have had free play here, 
judging from the way the mountains of bowlders are 
piled together. Rocks, many of them larger than 



bb LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

houses, are here rolled up on ledges that form the steps 
of a giant's staircase up to its brow. To this summit 
we may climb to find a little platform of huge rocks 
higher than any other point, and known as Eagle's 
Peak, where will be afforded us one of the most ex- 
quisite views of this valley. Hundreds of people visit 
this spot every summer and here take observations of 
one of the most extensive and transporting realms of 
rural and scenic beauty and agricultural wealth visible 
in our state. He who climbs these heights some pleas- 
ant morning wnll always know what a vision Moses 
must have had from Mt. Nebo's heights when he took 
his first and only gaze into the Promised Land. Our 
illustration shows a view too distant to do justice to 
its nearer grandeur. 

And this peak is itself an historic landmark. Hither 
climbed, on March 22, 1751, "to view the landscape 
o'er," the venerable patriarch of the American lyUth- 
eran Church, Rev. Dr. Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg, in 
company with Rev. P. Brunnholtz, honored pastor of the 
Lutheran congregations at Philadelphia and German- 
town ; Rev. J. C. Hartwig, on and out of whose large 
real estate in Otsego Co., N. Y., was later established 
the first Lutheran Theological Seminary in this coun- 
try ; Conrad Weiser, whose guests these were, and 
others. The occasion was the pastoral conference, called 
by Muhlenberg, and held at Weiser's house, to consider 
the pastoral call which Muhlenberg had shortly before 
received from the Dutch Lutheran congregation of New 



AN OLD INDIAN TRAIL. 87 

York Cit}', and to investigate the trouble between Pas- 
tor Handschuh and his flock at Lancaster. These men 
met at Reading a few days before, and proceeded to- 
gether to Weiser's home at Tulpehocken. Dr. Mann 
in his ''Life and Times of Mulilenberg," based upon 
such authoritative data as the patriarch's own diary, 
alludes to this event, on page 264 of his book, as follows: 
"The following day the travellers arrived at Tulpe- 
hocken, and on March 22d, for bodily exercise, they, 
with some of the friends, ascended the highest point of 
the South Mountain, three miles distant from Weiser's 
residence, where a splendid panorama for a distance of 
thirty miles extended before them, limited to the west * 
and the southwest by the Blue Mountain chain. The 
sun was shining, the sky was clear. Large rocks formed 
a protection against the March winds. Three eagles, 
probably having their nests in the lonely neighborhood, 
wheeled in circles above the heads of the strange visitors, 
rising higher and higher in the air until in the golden 
hues of the sunbeams they finally disappeared. This 
beautiful picture brought strange feelings to the hearts 
of the brethren, lor it recalled to them the symbolic pic- 
ture of the eagle couching in front of the wide-spreading 
golden rays of the sun on the Orphan-House at Halle. 
Many a Bible quotation having more or less bearing 
upon the occasion and the surroundings was then given, 
and some old German church-hymns were intoned on 
this lofty height, and carried the praises of God to His 
throne. They all felt it was good to be there. Un- 



88 LANDMARKS IN THK LEBANON VALLEY. 

willingly they left their grand elevation to climb down 
again into the valley over rock and precipice, and to 
resume the cares and troubles of a world of labor." 
What a grand spot this to hold, some summer day, the 
biggest reunion of Lutherans ever held in this country ! 
Who knows but the Luther Leagues of Pennsylvania and 
New York, the two states then rivaling each other for 
Muhlenberg's services, may some day effect this ! 

Having now reached the top of our mountain road, 
through its environment of rocky, glen-cut mountain 
slopes, we reach a large table-land, or plateau, on the 
very top of the South Mountain. It extends for several 
miles in each direction. On this elevation is found the 
celebrated Texter farm, where its late proprietor and 
owner died recently, and concerning whose will and 
bequests there is now pending in the Lebanon County 
courts a somewhat interesting litigation suit. This 
farm at one time contained 1,900 acres, and though 
somewhat reduced, is still an immense plantation. On 
these heights, until recently, the last owner, Mr. Joel 
Texter, rivaled Mr. S. S. Long, at the base of the hill, 
in the raising of fine blooded stock. Each gained an 
extensive reputation and considerable wealth. But now 
both have departed to "the undiscovered country from 
whose bourn no traveler returns." With a better use 
made of their time and possessions, we trust, than their 
former savage owners, whose ancient highway led 
through both their tracts, they have gone to answer the 
summons of that Great Spirit, who gives to all of us, 
for a little while, power and opportunity. 



CHAPTER X. 

A CRADLE OK RELIGIOUS SECTS. 

Coming down the "Delectable Mountains," from 
which we took our last enchanting view of the valley, 
by the same "Klnft" roadway we took in ascent, we 
will to-day wind our way westward along the meander- 
ings of the Mill Creek — the stream that waters this sec- 
tion of the country and gives a name to the township. 
We will have a stretch of about five miles to go till we 
come to the fountain-head of this stream and the border 
line of Heidelberg township, the next adjoining. This 
little vale is a poem for natural beauty and improved 
cultivation. It deserves to be immortalized in song and 
history. To the writer's eye it has the appearance of a 
huge cradle, fashioned thus by nature and emplcif^ed by 
providence in which to rock the infant life (on this con- 
tinent) of no less than half a dozen of our Protestant 
religious denominations. 

Let us first take our walk through this lovely vale, 
and then give the history of the foundings of these 
sects. The valley stretches in a westerly or south- 
westerly course from Newmanstown in the direction 
towards Schaeflferstown. On our left, the towering 
South Mountain hems us in, which being so close at 
7 (89) 



90 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

hand clearly shows- its every rocky rib, in the afternoon 
sun, like some ill-fed, petrified mastodon. It also gives 
a sense of warmth and protection to the dwellers that 
cosily nestle in the rich vale at its feet, which helps the 
imagination in seeing the cradle-likeness of this terri- 
tory. On our west, a small ridge rises that, though 
broken more or less, continues on to SchaefFerstown, 
and is parallel with the southern border hills. By a 
slight pressure upon either barrier, methinks, and a little 
stretch of the imagination, one can see this cradle rock. 
It is covered during most of the year with one of Dame 
Nature's homespun spreads of emerald hue, and reminds 
one'of the famous Tyrol valleys. Here many first set- 
tlers of the Lebanon valley planted their homes. They 
came from different parts of Germany, and by different 
routes, but arrived here about simultaneously, whether 
by way of Schoharie, N. Y., or of Philadelphia, Ger- 
mantown, and Conestoga. The rich quality of the land, 
the abundance of water in springs and stream, and the 
beauty of scenery, justify their sharpened wit in dis- 
criminating choice. 

Following the little mountain brooklet, that is born 
of a hundred springs in the mountain sides of the Indian 
Pass last described, until this empties into the Mill 
Creek, we pass two old grist mills that serve as land- 
marks in this part of the vale in question. The first is 
what is now generally known as the Cherrington Mill, 
built in 1800, by Philip Kalbach, and for many years in 
the proprietorship of the Cherringtons, Kzekiel, John 



A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 9I 

F., and James E., respectively, father, son, and grand- 
son. The other mill is the Zimmerman mill, situated 
on the same mountain stream, but is not as old as the 
former. A short distance to the right is the Zeller fort, 
already described, where the German Lutherans had 
their beginning in American church life. Likewise 
the Reformed, a little beyond at Tulpehocken. On 
reaching the Mill Creek proper, we have but a mile to 
the hamlet known as Mill Creek Center, but by older 
citizens still spoken of as Muehlbach^ the German for 
Mill Creek. Here also is located a mill, the oldest of 
all in the township, and this spot claims to have wit- , 
nessed the very first settlement in these parts. Let us 
stop long enough in our ramble to visit the few points 
of interest. 

First we will visit the church and graveyard. Here 
as early as 1747 the records show a joint Lutheran and 
Reformed church to have been erected. Before this 
time these settlers worshipped at Tulpehocken. This 
was the first church in all this Mill Creek Valley. It 
was a rude log meeting house, followed by a frame 
church, which in 1790 gave place to the present stone 
structure, situated on a slight elevation of ground. This 
latter building was remodeled a few years ago, during the 
centennial year of its erection, when by the expenditure 
of several thousand dollars it was changed into a beautiful 
modern church building in its exterior appearance and 
interior style and arrangements. A marble slab over 
the entrance door gives the above-named facts epito- 



92 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

mized. Until recently a very old German Bible was 
here used in services. The church has crenerally been 
served by the Tulpehocken pastors on the Lutheran 
side, and by the SchaefFerstown pastors on the Re- 
formed side. The graveyard surrounding the church 
shows in its tombstone records the names of the sur- 
rounding citizens and the story of their constant gather- 
ing into this silent "city of the dead." One of the 
oldest graves it contains that is marked by a legible 
stone is that of Anderes Saltzgeber, of which the fol- 
lowing is a fac'simile : 



^L (^J cki. 



^'^iiiiiik 



HIER RUHET 
ANDERES SALTZ- 
GEBER 1ST GEBOHREN 
DEN 26 DEC 1708 
GESTORBEN 1 769 
SEINES AI.TERS 61 
lAHR SEINE EHFR- 
^V WAR ANN MA- 
RIA EINE GEBOH- 
RNE ZELERN. IN DE- 
R EH GEI.EBT 41 lAHR 



•(■•■■■■■■■■■••••■■■■■■•■■■■■■■••■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■■'■■■^ 



I 



A CRADLR OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 93 

But while this is the only church in this hamlet, it 
was not the first religious worship which its erection 
witnessed here. It is claimed that fully two decades or 
more before this time, Conrad Beissel and a few associ- 
ate German Baptists, or Dunkards, arrived from Ger- 
many and settled here, doubtless conducting worship in 
the house this leader is said to have erected. It is 
evident that they here found water enough to accommo- 
date them in their immersion practices. As no history 
of the erection of a Dunkard meeting-house or of a sep- 
arate local congregation is extant, it is probable that 
this nucleus formed a part of the Conestoga First Day 
Dunkards. It was not long, however, before Mr. Beis- * 
sel "fell out" with his brethren on a number of points 
of doctrine, principally that concerning the Sabbath 
observation, he claiming the Seventh day as the proper 
one to be kept. He published a tract as early as 1725, 
fully setting forth his views, and withdrew from fellow- 
ship with his brethren. He had quite a follow^ing, and 
thus was born the Seventh Day Baptist Sect or Society, 
which, led by their zealous leader, removed to Bphrata, 
Lancaster county, where they promulgated their mystic 
views, erected a convent, and made for themselves a 
quaint but somewhat conspicuous history among the 
denominations of our land. In education and publica- 
tion this new center was leading the German population 
of this section of the state for a quarter of a century. 

This hamlet contains another interesting landmark 
that we must visit ere we pass on. It is the old mill. 



94 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



whose grist has fed man and fattened beast for almost a 
century and a quarter. 

A carved stone in the face of the wall, evidentl}^ pro- 
vided with a receptacle for deposits of a documentary 
character, like the corner-stones of churches, gives date 
and name of builder as follows : 









17 


JERE MUI^ER 
MARIA CATH. M. 


S2 









The house is a very fine and substantially built struc- 
ture with wall of native red-sandstone and limestone, 
dressed and trimmed, with broken or hipped Dutch roof, 
and finished in massive style and in hard wood. The 
stairway and hand-rail are of solid oak and still a thing 
of beauty. The quaint and massive Queen Anne man- 
telpiece is likewise of solid oak, as pretty as any quar- 
tered oak now in use. The doors and patent locks of 
long^ ago still add charm to a landmark which is as well 
kept and as cheerful a home as that of Mt. Vernon on 
the banks of the Potomac. It is now the property of 
Mr. E. R. Illig, whose family have occupied it for a 
number of years. Tradition connects the romance of 
an illicit love affair and escapade with the builder and 
first proprietor. Rumor says that he fell in love with 



A CRADLE OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 



95 



his servant girl, and after some remonstrances against 
this intimacy by his wife- — the Maria Catharine of the 
above engraved stone — Mr. Miller eloped with his para- 
mour to Virginia, leaving the property to his upbraid- 
ing wife and her family. 




THE ILLIG HOME AND MILI, IN Mil,!, CREEK, CENTRE. 



It was presumably a son of this first couple, and his 
wife, who erected in 1784 the mill property that is at- 
tached to this old stone mansion. It is also of stone, in 
the same style of architecture as the house, and has a 
date-stone in the face of the wall exposed to the road- 
side, which reads as follows: 



96 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



17 84 

GOTT ALEIN DEEN 



MICHAEIv MII.I.ER 
MEI.ISABET MII^LER 



There is some poetry and piety in the thought that a 
mill should serve God alone. Dedicated thus to God, it 
has served Him and man, we suppose, for a century and 
a decade of time. As far as we know, it has always 
ground its grist in peace and blessing, and we trust it 
may never grind out the wrath of Jehovah, or be made 
to prove that 

"The mills of the gods grind slowly, 
But they grind exceeding fine." 

It was on the large farm in connection with this 
ancient mill property, that the enterprising and intelli- 
gent Illig family was reared, two of whom are the cele- 
brated proprietors of a large dry goods store in Reading, 
while the farm has been divided among three others, 
whose lovely homesteads front on this Mill Creek road 
just outside of the village. The one is that of Mr. B. 
R. Illig, already described ; next comes the house and 
farm of Capt. Batdorf, whose wife was an Illig ; and the 
third, the original homestead, is that of Mr. Hiram L. 
Illig, who is renowned as being, without doubt, the 
possessor of the largest collection of Indian relics, (spear- 
heads, lance-heads, scalping knives, scrapers, mortars, 
pestles and rude utensils and ornaments) in the county. 



A CRADI.E OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 



97 



The arrangement of these relics is orderly and S3'stem- 
atic according to the varions strata of rock formation 
from which they were constructed. Concerning this 
branch of archaeology their possessor is a master, and 
altogether this family is far above the average in rural 
intelligence. They would be leaders in, and a credit to 
any community. 








A SECTION OF HIRAM L. II^LIG'S INDIAN REI^ICS. 

But we must close this chapter and defer to the next 
one an account of the founding and earliest beginnings 
of the Evangelical Association, which took place in this 
valley, and the interesting landmarks concerning which 
are still found here. 



CHAPTER XL 

A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. 

I AM now ready to lead my readers lo a two-fold 
fountain-head, the spot being the source both of the 
somewhat historic Mill Creek, along which we have been 
rambling in our last jaunt, and also of the Evangelical 
Association, which as a religious denomination has al- 
most completed its first century of rather remarkable 
and checkered life. The same spring that gives birth 
to the above-named stream marks the spot also that 
brought into organic being this branch of the Protestant 
Church; for over this spring was built a house in which 
the organization was effected. It is a remarkable 
coincidence that another spring, feeding this same 
creek, farther down its current, marks the place where 
Elder Peter Becker, of the Dunkard persuasion, im- 
mersed Conrad Beissel, the rather illustrious founder of 
the Seventh Day Baptist sect, which spring is known 
in the denominational history of this church as the 
"Dunkard Spring;" while still further down this same 
stream is the Zeller house or fort, also built over a spring 
and emptying into the Mill Creek, where the German 
lyUtherans of this country had their organic beginning. 

Having left my readers at Mr. H. L. Illig's Bazar of 

(98) 



A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. 



99 



Aboriginal Archaeology, or Indian Relics, we are but 
two miles from the fountain head we want now to 
visit. But these are two miles fraught with intensely 
interesting history. And although the current of his- 
tory, like that of water, should be followed from its 
source downward and onward, it suits us best to go up 




IHiv iihCKL.R HOAIliSTKAD, MII,I< CRKEK. 

the streams of both, because along this way lies the 
chosen course of our historical excursion. Hence we 
come first to the Becker house, where the first annual 
conference of the Evangelical Association was held in 
1807. This house is still standing on the next estate to 
Illig's, on the right-hand side of the road going to 



lOO I^ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

1 

Kleinfeltersville, and is more than a mile northeast of 



the other Becker homestead, where, in 1803, Bishop ■ 
Albright called his followers together for mutual con- 1 
ference about separation from former church affiliations 
and organization into a new sect, by the adoption of 
rules and regulations, which led to the present discipline 
of this church and its entire mode of denominational 
life and polity. We will pick up the scraps of historic 
interest that lie along the way to this historic spot. 
The Becker estate originally consisted of 1,500 acres of 
land, the property of a Miss or Mrs. Jane Fenn, of Ches- 
ter County, who leased it to parties resident here, and 
whose relatives would visit it in summer and fish along 
the creek that flowed through the plantation. There 
are still legal papers in the hands of the Becker family, 
showing the transfer of the property to a Mr. Becker, 
when the Fenns found it did not pay them. Then the 
plantation was cut into smaller farms, and the different 
farm houses were built thereon. The one alluded to as 
the house in which the first annual conference of Al- 
bright's church was held, is a large, commodious, farm 
dwelling-house, built of regularly dressed sandstone of •; 
reddish tint that is quarried near by, and was erected, , 
according to a date-stone in its wall, in 1770. Some 
alterations have been made since that first conference, 
but the large room, or rooms, in which the sessions of 
this historic gathering were held are intact and are still 
pointed out to the visitor. It was attended by five 
itinerant and three local preachers and twenty official 



A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. lOI 

lay members, and was continued for two days, Novem- 
ber 15 and 16, 1807. ^t ^^^s meeting Albright was 
elected superintendent or first bishop of the society and 
instructed to formulate rules of discipline, which latter 
duty he was prevented from accomplishing by decline 
of health and an early, untimely death. In this house 
met also the third and fourth annual conferences of this 
association, and here were licensed a number of the 
first preachers of the body, who afterwards figured 
prominently in this church. The large yard and gar- 
den of this homestead has the noteworthy distinction of 
being so well fenced in that 127 years of frost and 
tempest have not shaken this original construction of' 
shelter and protection. The posts are solid sandstone, 
of the same quality used in the walls of the house, are 
about one foot square, and stand four feet above ground. 
Into these are drilled holes, in which rest the rails. 
The one on which the gate swings has the following 
figure engraved on it, which is still quite legible: 



17 67 



The initials stand for George Becker, the builder. 

Had the church here founded been as securely envi- 
roned by a fence, strong enough to keep out pride and 
sin and foreign ideas, there would not be the sad litiga- 



I02 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

tions that now divide this once influential portion of 
Christ's body. 

Leaving this place and still going on towards Klein- 
feltersville, we pass the private burial place of several 
generations of this family, a Dunkard meeting-house, 
the fine home and farm of Rev. George Bucher, the 
Dunkard preacher of this district; and, crossing the line 
of Heidelberg township, we soon come to the fountain 
head of this creek, and the place where Albright's re- 
ligious society was formed and where by a singular 
providence he died. May i8, 1808. This was the home 
of John George Becker, a son of the George Becker al- 
ready alluded to, I think. The house in which he 
lived was also a sandstone dwelling, reared over the 
spring in question, and was originally provided with 
mere port-holes for windows, and used as a house of 
refuge from the Indians. It has recently been torn 
down and replaced by a double-story frame dwelling, 
where now lives Mr. Wm. Hoffman, who is married to 
a granddaughter of this friend of Albright's, a daughter 
of Rev. John Kleinfelter, who was married to John G. 
Becker's daughter. 

Mr. Becker, being an early disciple of Albright's, 
opened his house for services and for the exercise of 
Christian hospitality towards these itinerants. Thus it 
came that in this house were witnessed on November 3, 
1803, the birth of this society and the licensure of Rev. 
Albright, later the marriage of one of its daughters to 
Rev. Kleinfelter, one of these itinerant preachers and 



A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. 



103 



afterwards a presiding elder, and on May 18, 1808, the 
death of the first bishop, Rev. Albright. 

Mr. Albright was a native of Montgomery, and dur- 
his ministry and at the time of his death was a resident 
of Lancaster County. He was returning from a quar- 
terly conference held on Easter, 1808, in Albany, Berks 
county, suffering from a pulmonary affection, when, 
completely prostrated, he was compelled to stop on his 
way home at the house of Brother Becker, where he 
took his bed, and died a few weeks after. A few days 
after. May 20th, he was buried in the private burial plot 
of this Becker family, which plot was afterward erected 
into a church burial ground. J-Iis grave here is marked * 
by a simple stone, of which the following is the 
epitaph: 



Zum Gedachtnis 

des 

Ev. Pr. Jacob Albrecht 

wurde geboren 

den I ten May 1759 

starb 
den 18 ten May 1807 

alt 

49 Jahre u. 17 Tage. 

Unter diesen Stein ruhen sein 

Gebein. 

Der Todt seiner Heiligen ist 

Werth gehalten fur dem Herrn. 

Psalm 116, V. 15. 



I04 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



After Rev. Kleinfelter married Mr. Becker's daughter 
and came into possession of much of his property, h( 
laid out the village of Kleinfeltersville, donated ground! 
for an Evangelical church and graveyard, and was 
largely instrumental in having the East Pennsylvania 
Conference build a memorial church at this place in 




AI.BRIGHT MEMORIAI. CHURCH. 



honor of the energetic bishop, who died and lay buried 
here. Accordingly, in 1850, kept by the Evangelical 
Association as a year of jubilee, this church was erected. 
The conference appointed Revs. J. P. Leib, J. M. Saylor 
and P. Sanner to supervise the work. It is a very 
modest structure of red sandstone, of rather small 



A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. 



105 



dimensions, after the simple style adopted by this 
denomination in that day of extreme simplicity. It is 
surmounted by a small cupola, in which swings a little 
bell. On its front a marble slab tells the following 
story : 



AIvBRECHT'S KIRCHE 

Errichtet 

Zum Andenkeu des verewigten 

JACOB ALBRECHT 

Stifter der Evangelischen Gemeinschaft 

in Nord America 

Im 5oten,Jahre der Gemeinschaft 

ANNO 1850. 
Ganz neu aufgebaiit im Jahr i860 



Few people worship here at present and fewer still are 
the visits to the adjoining graveyard, though there 
would be for a Gray another Elegy here. 

After devoting about twelve years to the itinerancy 
and the office of presiding elder, with a district stretch- 
ing from Philadelphia to the Ohio River, Rev. Klein- 
felter retired and carried on a mercantile business at 
this place and in the neighboring village of Flickinger, 
Lancaster county, the remainder of his life. He lies 
buried in the same rustic graveyard, not far from 
Albright's grave; and his wife, who as a child must 
have ministered to the dying bishop, sleeps by his side. 
Their tombstones are more pretentious, and the epitaphs 
read as follows : 



io6 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



REV. JOHN KLBINFELTER 
Born May 5, 1791. 
Died April 16, 1863. 
Aged 71 years 11 Mo. 11 da. 



He became an active and influential 
member of the Evangelical denom- 
ination at the early age of 20 years, 
when that Church was yet struggling 
in its Infancy, and by his Christian 
life he became a Power, felt through- 
out the entire Brotherhood. Filling 
the various positions of circuit Preach- 
er, Elder, &c. Thus improving every 
opportunity to do good, and become 
good. 

J. E. D. 



OUR NIOTMKR 

CATHARINE 

WIFE OF 

REV. JOHN R. KLBINFELTER 

Daughter of 

George and Maria Becker. 

Born April i, 1796. 

DIED 

June 13, 1883. 

AGED 

87 Years 2 Mo, 12 Days. 

Text 2 Timothy 4: 7-8. 

H. I. D. 



Her father also lies buried here. 



His grave stone is : 



A DOUBLE FOUNTAIN-HEAD. 10/ 

In memory of 

John George Becker, 

Born Sept. 29, 1767, 

Died Nov. 16, 1855, 

etc., etc. 

And here at this humble graveyard, where sleep these 
early and pious workers of a denomination that has 
wielded an extensive influence in the first century of its 
existence, we must part company for a short time. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE county's oldest TOWN. 

To-day I want to take my readers, whither a kind 
friend has recently taken me, to the oldest town within 
the limits of Lebanon county, if not of this valley. 
About the same time (perhaps a year or two before) the 
Schoharie Germans settled in this valley, the wave of 
German immigrants, which flowed by way of Philadel- 
phia and the lower counties of Montgomery, Chester 
and Lancaster, began to break over the border hills 
that separate the Lebanon and East Penn valleys from 
the Lancaster valley, and poured down this barrier's 
northern slope into the narrow vales that lie betwixt 
the foot-hills of this South Mountain range. Thus as 
early as 1720 the log cabins of these first settlers began 
to rise in the wild forests of these foot-hills. Soon one 
wave of immigration followed another and before two 
decades had passed, quite a flood of German colonists^ 
had poured over the Suabian hills into our south-eastern 
county borders and spread itself out in the present south- 
ernmost townships of Mill Creek, Heidelberg, South 
Lebanon, Cornwall and Londonderry. Heidelberg, the 
settlement, assumed the first town-nucleus, and accord- 
ingly Heidelberg-town, or what for the past century has 

(108) 



THE county's oldest TOWN. IO9 

been known, by the name of its founder, as Schaeffers- 
town, justly claims the distinction of being the first 
town "laid out" and built up within the county. It is 
located but two miles west or southwest from where I 
took leave of my readers in the last chapter. 

Whatever clusters of houses and settlements may have 
been formed before, the town was regularly laid out by 
Alexander Schaeffer in 1744. He had first taken up 
his abode in the foot-hills already alluded to, where at 
a recent date his log cabin, built about 1738, was still 
standing. From thence he removed to the site of the 
present town, where he had bought a large tract of 
land, which he immediately proceeded to lay out into a 
town plot after the present plan of a central market 
square and four principal streets leading out thence. 

Here he raised his family, the descendants of which 
are still found hereabouts. One great-grand-daughter 
is married to William Dissinger of town, and another, 
the daughter of Abraham Rex, long a successful 
local merchant, is the widowed wife of the late Wm. 
M. Weigley, Esq., whose magnificent brown-stone man- 
sion graces the streets of this ancient biirg^ conspicuously 
towering over its lines of humble dwellings. 

The body of Schaeffer lies buried in the portion of 
the cemetery where the Reformed buried their dead, 
and about him are buried his family. The hands of 
considerate descendants have since marked these graves 
with becoming tombstones. That of the founder him- 
self contains the following epitaph : 



no LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 





Hier ruth 

Im Herrn der Leib des 

ALEXANDER SCHEFFER 

Ift gebohren den 8ten 

Janvarivs 1712 

Ift geftorben den loten 

April 1786 

Alt worden 74 labr 

5 Monath & Zwey tage 

Amen, 



SchaefFerstown is a rich field for the antiquarian. It 
is built on more hills than the Eternal City, and, but 
for the lack of that city's charming Tiber, might have 
rivaled Rome itself In scenic beauty of mountain and 
farm-land, and in the fascinating romance of its inter- 
esting history, it lacks nothing to rival any town of 
more pretentious boast. 

Let me take my readers to the crest of the highest 
hill and point out objects of historic interest. As we 
desire in these trips to dwell among the ancient and 
the past, it is fitting that we take this position, for 
here is located the resting place of these worthy de- 
parted ones, hundreds upon hundreds of whom have 
been gathered on this northern hill-side to sleep side by 
side, like so many children, who, wearied of play, have 
fallen asleep in a mother's arms, and by her been 
gently tucked into their little beds for the night. 



THE county's oldest TOWN. Ill 

What a melancholy spot is an ancient graveyard! 
What food for sober and solemn meditation here ! If it 
aiford at the same time, as does this one, an outlook over 
the farms and work shops, where the sleepers beneath 
the sod once toiled, what an observatory for the spirit 
of man to take bearings of life — its past, present, and 
future ! One need not read the solemn exhortations 
engraved upon the tombstones to feel serious ; all the 
atmosphere is solemnly hortatory, and a host of earnest 
spirits arise to admonish a reflecting mind to think of 
life soberly and to live it wisely and well. 

Before we walk among the dead, however, and read 
their epitomized biographies, preserved in engraven 
epitaphs, let us look out upon the scenes of activity, 
where this brave and gallant peasantry — fugitives from 
tyranny, persecution and bigotry — laid the foundations 
of this valley's present day prosperity. To the east 
stretches the beautiful valley of the Mlihlbach with its 
rich farms — to the south the rolling hills covered with 
tilled fields break like waves of the sea against the 
South Mountain ridge. To the west, bordered on the 
south by the Cornwall hills, roll the farms, one against 
the other, till they are lost in the hazy distance; and 
from the northwest, in the direction of Lebanon, to the 
northeast, in the direction of Richland, there is afibrded 
an extensive sweep of the very paradise of agricultural 
richness and beauty. At our feet lies the ancient vil- 
lage, where are still preserved a very large proportion 
of the primitive habitations in which dwelt the humble- 



112 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

minded forefathers that now sleep beneath our feet. 
Altogether the scenery is intensely beautiful, sufficiently 
wild and varied to give it a charm not possessed by a 
tame, monotonous stretch of landscape, yet sufficiently 
tamed and enriched by the hands of thrifty German 
husbandmen — the peaceful monarchs of our valley — to 
make most of it as pretty as a finished picture, or as 
lovely as a garden. 

From the south leads the Lancaster road, passing 
through such old towns as Lititz and Brickerville and 
by the celebrated Elizabeth furnaces, about three miles 
away, which were erected about 1755 by one John 
Huber, but later purchased by Baron Henry W. von 
Stiegel, of Manheim, Pa., a wealthy native of Manheim, 
Germany, who here made shot and shell, and cast guns 
for the Provincial army during Revolutionary times. 
Stiegel conducted this industrial plant for about 
eighteen years, manufacturing the old-fashioned jamb 
stoves, said to have borne the following legendary in- 
scription: 

" Baron Stiegel ist der Mann 
Der die Ofen giesen Kann." 

While engaged in this business he built a residence 
and tower in SchaefFerstown, and laid out the southern 
portion, now known as "Canada." The first hill one- 
fourth of a mile south of the town center marks the spot 
where this castle tower or TJmrni stood, and from it 
received the name of Thurm-berg or ''Tower-hill." 



THE county's oldest TOWN. II3 

The tower has gone into decay, but old citizens remem- 
ber it, and relate that in it the Baron himself taught 
school in later days, when his fortune had taken wings. 
One of his sons removed to the Shenandoah Valley, 
Virginia, and there married, had issue and became 
wealthy. There are still descendants living in those 
parts who have in recent years visited these scenes 
made famous by their illustrious sire. It is doubtless 
through this southern connection that many of the 
blooded Virginia and Maryland horses came to be tried 
in the once celebrated race-tracks located about two 
miles south of the town, giving this settlement noto- 
riety a century before this sport did the same for New' 
Jersey politicians. 

The "Tower-hill" marks also two other spots of his- 
toric interest. The one is the Jewish cemetery on its 
southern slope, where were buried the first colonists of 
this community, who were Jews, and who were at one 
time strong enough to have a synagogue and maintain 
worship. While the spot of the "Jewish church" and 
graveyard can still be identified, it is a shame that there 
should here be found such inconsiderate vandalism as to 
lay its unholy hands upon the walled enclosure of this 
sacred spot, and reduce to the common level of a field or 
orchard what should have been kept as holy ground 
and been most jealously guarded as an historic relic. 
The other spot of interest on Tower-hill is the spring 
which has for nearly 150 years supplied this town with 
water. It is located on the northern slope of this hill 



114 



I^ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



just on the edge of town, is walled over into a reservoir 
and shaded by giant oaks and maples, through whose 
out-spreading branches the spring winds still whistle 
songs of "the forest primeval." An artificial park 
is slowly forming about the same, with seats and band- 
stand to entice, on summer nights, the villagers to 
its cooling retreat. This best of water supplies has 




A SCHAEFFERSTOWN WATERING TROUGH. 

been utilized since 1753 as a public water works, so 
deeded by the founder of the town and his wife to ap- 
pointed trustees for the use of inhabitants of Market 
Square and street. It claims to be the first public water 
works established in the United States. Two public 
fountains have poured their clear, sparkling and never- 



THE COUNTY'S OLDEST TOWN. II5 

failing contents into immense watering troughs for 141 
years to gladden man and beast. 

Down by this Lancaster roadway, past the furnace, 
race track, Jewish cemetery, baronial castle and "lead- 
ing spring" of SchaefFer's, the Lancaster and Womels- 
dorf postman, for many a year before the close of the 
last century, drove into town with his tally-ho and 
freight of passengers, parcels and post, announcing his 
arrival into town by the sounding of his bugle-horn. 
We will let an imaginary blast of this trumpet interrupt 
our observations and call us from our heights into the 
town below, where we shall gather additional facts of 
history. But for this we must wait, inasmuch as the 
limit of this chapter has already been reached. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 

The bugle-blast of the old-time postman interrupted 
our historic search in the last chapter. It summoned us 
while on the sacred hillside of SchaefFerstown, where 
the community has buried half a dozen generations of 
sturdy peasantry and noble yeomanry together. Before 
we take leave of this spot let us take a look at the 
stones that mark their sepulture. What a field of 
moldering bones and bleaching marble is this "God's 
acre!" The stately shaft of granite or marble is found 
side by side with the low and crumbling limestone 
marker or the lichen-covered sandstone, as the bones of 
those interred underneath commingle into a common 
dust. Here are found the graves of nearly all who have 
lived in this vicinity for a sesqui-centennium. Here, 
indeed, meet together the rich and poor of the Lord, 
who is the Maker of them all ! 

After passing the graves of the Moyers and Rexes, 
and the fine Weigley monument of granite, surmounted 
by a womanly figure in marble showering flowers from 
her hand, we come into the older portion of the burial 
ground, where the Schaeffers and Wolfe rsbergers and 
Brpffs are buried. We take especial interest in the 

(ii6) 



AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. II7 

tombs of the last-named family, consisting of parents 
and one daughter, deceased in childhood, because of the 
elaborate tombstone erected over this child's grave, and 
because of the story of the life and good will of the 
parents. According to the account of an aged in- 
formant, Mrs. Jere. Steinmetz {iiee Mock), whose uncle 
was a beneficiary of this benevolent pair, Mr. and Mrs. 
Philip Krpff (Erb?) emigrated to this country as redemp- 
tioners, and served their years of bondage ("bound 
out") along the Miihlbach. By industry and perse- 
verance they gained a competency and became the pos- 
sessors of a profitable farm near town. After the death 
of their only child they made a will, bequeathing, after 
death, the sum of fifty pounds sterling to all of their 
god-children, and the residue of their estate to the Luth- 
eran church of the town, of which they were members. 
It is said, however, that after the wife's death, which 
occurred first, outsiders interfered with the husband, 
and, either by an alteration in the will or crookedness 
in the estate's settlement, the church v/as deprived of 
this intended legacy. It is a pity that to prevent this 
specious form of embezzlement, all benevolently dis- 
posed men and women have not yet learned how to be- 
come their own executors ! The following are fac- 
similes of the tombstones of Mr. ErpfFand his daughter, 
the wife's being similar to his. We ask the readers to 
notice the artistic elaboration expended upon this pet 
child's memorial stone, and consider the age in which it 
was erected: 



ii8 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 




Hier 

Ruhen die gebeine von 

PHILIP JACOB ERPFF 

Gebohren zu Geyfzengen 

im Hertzogthum 

Wurtemberg den 2oten 

October A, D. 1724 

Gestorben den 3oten 

lanuarius A. D. 1803 

Sein Alter 78 lahr 

3 Monateu und 10 tage 



I 



The child's grave is marked by a sandstone fully 
seven inches thick and about three and a half feet high. 
The sculptor of that day must have here done his best 
to please the living and properly honor the dead. Here 
is a sample of his art. It seems to represent life and 
death, as the head of the tomb-stone is to represent a 
living face, and at the bottom of it death is pictured in 
the skull and cross-bones. We desire also to call the 
attention of the reader at the ancient sign of the dupli- 
cation of a letter as found in the words "Erpf," 
" Susana " and "Ano." Many similar specimens of 
this common usage of duplication abound in the old 
grave-yards visited. But the roof-like shape of the top 
of stone is something rare. It is seldom found. We 
present in the following cut a fair representation of this 
elaborate and unique ancient memorial stone : 



AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 



119 




HIER RUHET 

UNSER LIEBE TOCHTER 

MARIA EI.ISABETHA ERPFIN 

DES _ _ 

PHII.IP ERPF & SUSANA MAG- 

DAI^EHNA EHEI.ICHE TOCHTR 

1ST GEBOHREN ANO I756 

FEBRU. 2 TAG GESTORBEN 

ANO 1769 JANU. 13 TAG AI^T 

WORDEN 12 JAHR II MONHTA 

VND 8 TAG 



^ 








17 V — / 69 



^ 



Now passing the graves of Peter Sheetz and Philip 
Wolfersberger, who with others in this community used 
to be the owners of negro slaves before their freedom 
was legally granted in our state, let us descend into the 
ancient town lying at our feet. 



I20 I.ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

With the exception of a few additions in the form of 
handsome and costly homes, in modern styles of archi- 
tecture, such as the Weio^ley mansion, the residence of 
Dr. Zerbe and others, and a new Reformed church edi- 
fice and a remodeled Lutheran church building, we 
will find the town very much as it was fifty years ago. 
The language, customs and habits of the people have 
not changed. To one who comes from the current of 
our busy, whirring life of steam and electricity and 
steam-harnessed machinery, everything here seems new 
and strange because it is so tame and antiquated. But 
this does not necessarily make against the place. It 
only furnishes us with a specimen of life in the genera- 
tions when honesty was a virtue and common brother- 
hood an established and realized fact, and a man's word 
as good as a bond or seal. Hence about the best way 
for our Pennsylvania German folk to go back in history 
a few generations and pay a visit to their honest and in- 
dustrious forefathers, and look in upon their quiet and 
peaceful mode of life, is to spend a while in the Schaef- 
ferstown of to-day. Here they will find a simplicity of 
living undisturbed by such modern concomitants of 
civilization as labor strikes and commonweal armies 
and all that ferment of discontent among the laboring 
classes now sending its scummy ebullitions to the sur- 
face elsewhere. The master and the servant have here 
not yet exchanged places. The capitalist carries on 
whatever humble industry he has planned and set on 
foot, without fear of having a band of jealous ruffians 



AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 121 

and insolent vagrants shut up its doors. Wagons are 
built here as strong and reliable as when they were used 
to carry the surplus grain from the surrounding acres 
to Philadelphia. 

The shoemaker has not yet learned to make his pro- 
duct out of shavings, but still makes shoes out of leather 
intended to be worn and not to increase the sale. And 
the school teacher — blessed paradise for this much- 
abused and law-circumscribed benefactor — can here 
wield his birch, if occasion demand it, without that 
mark of his patrons' appreciation which gives the peda- 
gogue elsewhere an unsolicited course in law for giving 
his pupils an inevitable *' course in sprouts." So lives 
Schaefiferstown to-day, and so lived our fathers every- 
where many years ago. 

Coming down from our cemetery heights to see it, we 
take the street or lane that brings us to the lyUtheran 
church and parochial school house of long ago — two of 
the oldest structures in the town. Both are built of 
limestone, and were erected in 1765, as is shown by an 
arched stone that was the head-stone of the main en- 
trance to the church before its recent remodeling, where 
it was left to tell its story of antiquity when these en- 
trance doors beneath it were walled out. The school- 
house has for many years past been used for Sunday- 
school and mid-week devotional purposes. 

This church has quite a history. As early as 1720, 
there are evidences of official burial services having 
been conducted here by missionary pastors. Frag- 
9 



122 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



mentary records prove that Rev. F. A. C. Muhlenberg at 
one time (1770-73) exercised pastoral functions here. 
Doubtless a los; or frame church edifice must have ex- 




i 



I 



SCHAEFFERSTOWN I^UTHERAN CHURCH. 

isted before the present stone structure. While the 
present building was erected, the congregation formed 
a part of the Tulpehocken pastorate, and Rev. John 



AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 1 23 

Nicholas Kurtz was pastor. He was succeeded by Rev. 
C. Emanuel Shultze, from 1770 to 1809, who was as- 
sisted by his brother-in-law from 1770 to 1773 as stated. 
Shultze was succeeded by the Rev. Wm. Baetes, from 
1810 to 1836; by Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff, from 1837 
to 1849; t>y Rev. J. M. Dietzler, from 1850 to 1865; 
by Rev. U. Graves, from 1865 to 1866 ; by Rev. G. J. 
Martz, from 1867 to 1878 ; and by Rev. M. Fernsler, 
from 1879 to the present time. The congregation has 
been part of four or five separate pastoral charges. In 
1865 it celebrated the centennial of the church erection, 
when addresses were delivered by such well-known di- 
vines as Drs. E. Huber, Daniel Schindler, Revs. J. M. 
Dietzler, E. S. Henry, and U. Graves. In 1884, the 
church was completely remodeled at considerable ex- 
pense, the old steeple taken down from its west end 
and built up at the east end, while sixteen feet 'were 
added to its length on the west. While the same solid 
masonry stands and constitutes the wall, the building 
has lost its antique appearance, and has assumed a mod- 
ern style of architecture within and without. A very 
old pipe organ is still in use here. The old communion 
service bears this inscription: "Michael Weber und 
seine Ehefrau Anna Barbara haben die Communion 
Kanthen, in die Evangelish-Lutherische Kirche in 
Heidelberg, Linkester Amt gestisset, 1764." 

The bell which used to swing in the old steeple, 
and whose silvery tone for many years called this com- 
munity to worship, is said to have had the following in- 



124 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

scription: "Pack and Chapman, of London, Fecit 1773. 
For the Lutheran church, Heidelbergtown, Lancaster 
county." Similar ones were made by the same firm 
and at the same time for the Trinity Lutheran church 
of Lancaster city, and Salem Lutheran church, Leb- 
anon. They were doubtless ordered by Rev. F. A. C. 
Muhlenberg, who was then the pastor in charge. 

Contemporaneously with the Lutheran church, the 
Reformed congregation of town grew up. Their first 
church was a frame structure. Another of stone super- 
seded this in 1796, which has in turn been displaced, in 
1858, by a beautiful and imposing brick edifice, fronting 
on the Main street. 

We are indebted to Dr. Egle's history of Dauphin 
and Lebanon county for the specimen lottery ticket, giv- 
ing us an idea of how the second edifice and that of th( 
old Reformed church, Lebanon, were paid for; a com- 
mon resort for revenue in public enterprises of that day; 



LOTTERY. No. 1547. ^ 

f Authorized by Law of the State of Pennsyl- 
vania, for defraying the expenses of erecting 
the Churches lately built by the German Re- 
formed Congregations respectively, in the 
Borough of Lebanon and in the Town of 1 
Heidelberg, in the County of Dauphin. n 

ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. ;j 
This Ticket will entitle the Bearer to such 
Prize, as may be drawn to its Number, if de- 
manded within twelve Months after drawing. 
Subject to a deduction of twenty per cent. <^^ 

'^ Feb. 19, 1800. Ji 

( HENRY SCHAEFFER. J 



AMONG OI.D GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 1 25 

The known pastors of the Reformed church have been 
Revs. J. B. Rieger, Thomas Leinbach, Sr., Samuel S. 
and Thomas C. Leinbach, Jr., S. S. Sweitzer, J. A. 
Shultz, A. H. Leisse, and A. J. Bachman, the present 
incumbent. 

In walking^ along: these ancient streets one still sees 
a large number of the first peasant abodes, mere huts, 
whose low roofs can be touched with one's hand from 
the sidewalk. Most of these abodes are still occupied, 
but some are going into decay. Many are covered with 
tiles, and in view of these tokens of age, the town re- 
minds one of Newmanstown. 

The town center contains a spacious square or market * 
place, along which are old buildings. One especially 
claims our attention. It is the old stone hostelry, 
erected in 1752 by the founder of the town. In ante- 
Revolutionary times it had a royal name, "King 
George," and sheltered many an aristocratic guest. 
After the Revolution, the sign portrait was changed 
from King George to that of George Washington. The 
most remarkable feature about this old landmark prob- 
bably is its elaborately and well-built cellar. Its ceil- 
ing consists of a series of well-walled and cemented 
arches, receding from a common center. It is known 
to have on several occasions sheltered the inhabitants 
of the community from the depredations of the savages 
in the first and second decades after its erection. 

Bidding adieu to this ancient town, we will take our 
way across the country towards Myerstown. Leading 



126 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



through the very paradise of Lebanon county farms, we 
will pass the palatial country residence and improved 
farms of Mr. Isaac Long, a brother and partner in the 
New York wholesale commission business of the late 




KING GEORGE HOTEI., SCHAEFFERSTOWN. 



S. S. Long, of Newmanstown. This summer residence 
is located at the corner where Mill Creek, Heidelberg 
and Jackson townships meet. A little nearer Myers- 
town we pass an ancient house, now occupied by Mr. 
Ezra Spangler, which has not gone out of the family 
hands since its erection. Though having signs of age 
upon it, it is in a good state of repair, and its fine lime- 



AMONG OLD GRAVES AND BUILDINGS. 



127 



stone walls are as substantial as when it was first built. 
It bears in its front elevation a sandstone with the fol- 
lowing quaint inscription, the quotation of which som- 
ber, semi-religious, orthographically-faulty sentiment 
will close this chapter : 











GOTT - GESEGNE - DIESEE - HAVS - VND 






WER - DA - GETT - EIN - VND AVS - ICH GE 






AVS ' ODER - EIN - SO - STET - DER - DOTT 






VND - WARTET - MEIN .-. 17 - 82. 






JACOB - SPENI.ER &E-S-B-S-P-R-N 











CHAPTER XIV. 

THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 

Having worked our way back to the Berks and 
Dauphin turnpike — fortunately for our jaunts, when 
such snows visit this region in the middle of April as 
the one that blocked up travel by steam, electricity, 
bicycle or foot last week — let us go down this ever pass- 
able highway to where we left it almost two months ago 
for our "round-about " excursion, and let us from this 
point work our way westward toward Ivcbanon, picking 
up along the way the scattered leaves of unwritten his- 
tory. So we will go about three miles east of Myers- 
town to the oldest and one of the most important 
churches of the Reformed denomination in all this 
valley. It is known as the Tulpehocken Reformed 
church, and has a long and intensely interesting history. 
Because of its having been served by the two Leinbach 
brethren, Thomas H. and Charles, for over half a cen- 
tury, it is commonly spoken of as the "lycinbach 
Kirche." 

It is located just west of the Tulpehocken Lutheran 
church, about a mile and a half west of Stouchsburg, 
along the turnpike, near a little village that has grown 
up recently under the name of Cocena. It is situated 

(128) 



THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 129 

on rising ground, like that of the Lutheran church near 
by, along a bend of the Tulpehocken creek, while the 
two historic and venerable sites, with their sacred 
temples and burial grounds and ancient parsonages, 
frown at or greet one another (as the heart of the ob- 




TUI.PEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 



server is filled with bigotry or fraternity) from their 
opposing hill-sides, like the ancient mountains of Ebal 
and Gerizim. We trust they have both been "mounts 
of blessing" during all the hundred and fifty years of 
gospel light that crown them. It would seem at least 



130 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

as if the earliest settlers that worshiped here desired that 
these sacred spots might prove Gerizims and not Ebals, 
where many of them built their houses even with a 
version of the promised Mosaic blessing- (Deut. xxviii. 
6) engraved upon them, " Gott gesegne dieses Haus, und 
wer da gehet ein und aus. " 

With no fear of having curses heaped upon us, let us 
repair to the spacious, stone manse that stands a little 
off the roadway, to the south. Although the present 
genial dominie. Rev. H. J. Welker, has a little farm of 
thirty acres to superintend, beside his parish work, we 
will find him none too busy to give us a little time and 
lead us into the very interesting past and present of all 
this sacred and historic landmark. The pastors here 
have been busy men from time immemorial, some of 
them having served as many as sixteen widely scattered 
congregations at one time, besides managing a mill 
property and the -farm, which were then parts of the pas- 
toral estate. The "church mill" has in recent years 
been disposed of and now turns its grist for another than 
the pastor. But a famous stone quarry on the premises 
still yields a handsome royalty as a revenue for the 
church. 

The parsonage is a fine stone structure, commodious 
and kept in good repair. The wide hall-way and the 
cheerful rooms on either side bespeak welcome and 
comfort. They have done so to many thousand visi- 
tors during the more than a century of the manse's ex- 
istence. Perhaps the most distinguished guest it ever 



THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. I3I 

sheltered was the late Dr. Philip SchafF, a native of 
Switzerland. His great learning early gave him a trans- 
continental reputation, and in 1844116 was called by the 
German Reformed church, of America, to fill a professor- 
ship in the institutions at Mercersburg, Pa. He landed in 
New York in July of that year, and taking up a leisurely 
journey towards the place of destination, he passed 
through Eastern Pennsylvania, stopping at Kutztown, 
Reading, and at Tulpehocken with Dr. Thomas H. 
Leinbach, the pastor. He probably spent a few days at 
this hospitable Reformed manse. He said of it a year 
before his death, at a meeting of the Reformed Synod 
in Reading, October, 1892, which he attended, that 
" the manners and customs of the people and the Penn- 
sylvania-German dialect were exceedingly interesting" 
to him. This visit occurred the first day pf August, 
1844, i^early fifty years ago, and he arrived at Mercers- 
burg August 1 2th, after stopping with Judge Bucher 
at Harrisburg, where, at a convention of Dutch and 
German Reformed delegates, he first met Dr. J. W. 
Nevin, with whom he was thenceforward to be so inti- 
mately connected as a colleague. It must be a source 
of just pride to every member of this flock that loves 
and knows how to appreciate the intellectually great, 
and especially for the pastor, to remember that this 
their pastoral abode once sheltered such a prince of 
theologians and church historians. 

In the parsonage are found minute and extensive 
records of the labors of its pastors and the transactions 



132 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

of this congregation. They cover three or four large 
volumes, but the oldest and most valuable of all has 
been lost. Still quite a full history of the church life 
here can be constructed from the records at hand. 

There have been three churches since the beginning 
in 1744. The first one was a log building, and stood in 
the southeast corner of the old cemetery. The second 
church was built of stone, and stood opposite the road 
from the present site, at the northwest corner of the or- 
chard, between the pike and the parsonage. The 
present edifice is a large two-story massive structure, 
built of niceb^ dressed limestone. It bears in its front 
elevation a marble slab containing: the following en- 
o-ravine : 



REBUILT A. D. 1853. 

"THIS IS NONE OTHER THAN 

THE HOUSE OF GOD," 

THOMAS H. LEINBACH, MINISTER. 

BOA RD OF TRUSTEES : 

Thomas Bassler, President. 

J. Steward, D. Mosser, 

Wm. Tice, J. Tice, H. Haack and M. Haack. 

BUII.DING COMMITTEE : 

George Diehl, Jonathan Klopp 

and Eli Klopp, 
S. McAlister, Master Carpenter. 



Although the building is not antiquated in its exterior 
or interior arrangements, yet the congregation has 



THE TULPEHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 133 

already decided to spend about $5,000 in its remodeling- 
in the near future. (This was executed in 1894.) 

The following pastors have served this church : Prior 
to 1747, it was served for some little time by certain 
itinerant or missionary pastors, with an occasional ser- 
mon by Revs. Rieger, Boehm and George Michael 
Weiss, at intervals of six and twelve weeks. After 
1747, the church had seUled pastors, as follows: 

Rev. D. Bartholmaeus, 1747-1750; Rev. H. W. Stoy, 
1752-1755; Rev. Waldschmidt, 1757-1758; Rev. Otter- 
bein, 1758-1764; Rev. John J. Zufall, 1765-1769; Rev. 
J. William Hendel, Sr., 1769-1782 ; Rev. Andrew 
Loretz, 1 785-1 786; Rev. D. Wagner, 1 787-1 793; Rev. 
William Hendel, D. D., 1793-1823; Rev. Thomas H. 
lycinbach, 1826-1864 ; Rev. Charles H. Leinbach, 
D. D., 1864-1883; Rev. Henry J. Welker, 1884 . 

Of these pastors, as far as we could learn, but two 
are buried here, viz., the Leinbach brothers, a visit to 
whose graves we will mention in the next chapter. 
There are a few graves among the many hundreds of our 
German folk, who sleep in the two large and well-kept 
graveyards here, that claim our attention today. In the 
old cemetery, south of the pike, close by where the first 
church stood, are buried the Spychers, who were histori- 
cal characters in the first half and middle of the last 
century. Benjamin, at whose house Col. Conrad Weiser 
gathered his regiment of 300 German farmers to repel 
the invading savages, already alluded to, was the illus- 
trious ancestor of the Decherts and Neads of this valley 



134 LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and that of the Cumberland. He was the son of John 
Peter Spycher, and emigrated to America from the 
Palatinate in 1738, settling in this neighborhood. In 
1744 he was licensed as an Indian trader. He served as 
an officer in the Provincial army during the French and 
Indian war, and at the beginning of the Revolution 
assisted in organizing the Berks county militia. He 
was a member of the Provincial Conference of June 8, 
1776, and of the Constitutional Convention of July 15, 
1776. His grave is supposed to be among the Spycher 
tombs found here, but the epitaph time has obliterated. 
The grave of Peter Spycher, doubtless a brother of 
Benjamin, is marked by a granite slab that is evidently 
more recent than his death and, therefore, still quite 
legible. He was among the men who figured promi- 
nently in arousing the Provincial Government to make 
efiforts of defense against the depredations of the Indians 
in his day. A letter is still extant which he wrote 
November 16, 1755, to Col. Conrad Weiser, then in 
Philadelphia on public business, in which he describes 
the recent depredations and butcheries among their 
brethren by the Indians, including the slaughter of the 
watch and many others, at Diedrich Six's (back of Mil- 
lersburg). The letter closes as follows : 

"I have this account from those above named, and from Peter An- 
spach, John Caderman, Christopher Noacre, Leonard Walborn, George 
Dollinger and Adam Dieffenbach. 

" We are, at present, in imminent danger to lose our lives or estates. 
Pray, therefore, for help, or else whole Tulpehocken will be laid 
waste, by the Indians, in a very short time, — all the buildings will be 



THE TUI.PKHOCKEN REFORMED CHURCH. 



135 



burned, the people scalped. Do, therefore, lose no time to get ns as- 
sistance. The Assembly may learn from this zuork, what kind and 
fine friends the Indians are ! We hope members of the Assembly will 
get their eyes opened and manifest tender hearts towards us ; and the 
Governor the same. They are, it is hoped, true subjects to our King 
George II, of Great Britain, or are they willing to deliver us into the 
hands of these cruel and merciless creatures? 

" I am your friend, PETER Spycher." 

From a German paper, printed by C. Saner, of Ger- 
mantown, July, 1757, this Peter Spycher is mentioned 
as one of the three persons to whom ^any free-will con- 
tributions might be sent to aid in the better defense of 
the Tulpehocken and Bethel inhabitants against the 
savages, for which this paper then sent out a strong ap- 
peal to the German brethren, scattered all over the older 
portion of the province. 

This Peter Spycher lived near Stouchsburg, and is 
buried in this old Reformed burial ground. His tomb- 
stone has the following inscription : 




Zum Gedachtnifs 
von PETER SPUCKER 

Esqr 

Gebohren Den 27 October 

171 [. Gestorben Den 13 

Juli 1789 

Ift alt worden 77 Jahr 8 Mo. 

V ein halben 



136 I.ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Among the oldest legible tombstone inscriptions we 
found the following, showing that the dead were buried 
here already in 1745 : 

^„ '"•"" • ,, 




= HIR BEGRABEN = 

= . lOHANNESKIDZ = 

I MILLER 1ST GE | 

= BOHREN 1692 E 

I DEN 2 FEBRV = 

I AR II GEST I 

I ORBEN 1745 I 

lilliiiieiuillliillillllillllllllllllllillllliilillilllllir 

Here are also buried the founders of Myerstown and 

other leaders of long ago, of whom we will speak 
later. 



CHAPTER XV. 

AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 

Having taken a general survey of the grounds and 
buildings and the past history of the Tulpehocken Re- 
formed church, let us take our seat on the front portico 
of the historic parsonage, and in company with the hos- 
pitable dominie in charge, call up the long line of the 
sainted pastors who labored here in the past century and 
a half, and look them one by one into the face. The 
spring sun is genial, the zephyrs breathe gently through 
the boughs of the apple orchard, fast budding into leaf 
and blossom about us, and the crocuses and daffodils are 
near by to illustrate our faith in the first resurrection of 
the pious dead, while robins and song-sparrows help to 
lure us into an hour of memorial reverie and review. 
By the aid of some magic wand let us then call up the 
slumbering prophets, and while they may. look in upon 
our latter life of modern improvements, we will catch, 
we trust, a sense of their piety and self-denial, while we 
gaze for an hour into their once familiar countenances. 

The first that must be called up are those earliest 
supply-pastors, or missionaries, who preached the Gos- 
pel here before the first synodical organization of this 
denomination was effected in this country. These were 
lo ( 137 ) 



138 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



the Revs. Rieger, Boehm and Weiss, names that stand 
liigh in the earliest annals of the Reformed chnrch in 
America. They were the very earliest pastors of this 
chnrch, and did much pioneer work for this denomina- 
tion in Pennsylvania. Boehm began to preach in 1726, 
before he was formally licensed. He took up his home 




THE TUr.PEHOCKEN REFORMED PARSONAGE. 



in Whitpain township, then Philadelphia county, about 
sixteen miles north of that city, from whence he sup- 
plied surrounding places, even Philadelphia. At this 
place (Whitpain) he built up a flourishing church that 
still bears his name. Weiss located at Skippach, Mont- 



AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 139 

gomery county, after arriving in this country with fifty 
families of native Palatines, September 21, 1727, hav- 
ing been sent hither as the first ordained pastor of the 
Reformed church in Pennsylvania, by *'the upper con- 
sistory, or classis, of the Palatinate." He served all the 
older congregations of the upper end of Montgomery 
county, such as Old and New Goschenhoppen, Gross- 
Schwam, etc. He also visited the Fatherland, with one 
Reif, in the interests of the struggling Reformed congre- 
gations of Pennsylvania, and for a brief period preached 
at Rhinebeck, N. Y. Reiger arrived in this country in 
September, 1731. He settled at Lancaster, and supplied 
the surrounding congregations with preaching, namely, 
Conestoga, Schaefferstown, etc. These three men have 
a number of things in common, viz., i, they united in 
September 29, 1747, with the Rev. Mr. Schlatter in the 
establishment, in Philadelphia, of the first ecclesiastical 
organization, known then by the name of Coetus, now 
as Synod; 2, they founded the first churches in the 
localities where they settled; 3, they all accumulated 
considerable wealth ; 4, they all lie buried in the churches 
which they respectively founded; and 5, they were all 
among the first supplies of the Tulpehocken congrega- 
tion. Would we visit their respective graves, we should 
find Weiss buried at the south-east corner of the New 
Goschenhoppen church, the grave marked by a wooden 
slab on which is painted the barest fact of his resting 
there. While he died childless, he owned about twenty 
slaves, all of whom and their offspring he baptized, 



140 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

some of whose descendants still linger about Goschen- 
hoppen. The grave of Boehm is likewise in the south- 
east corner of the church he built at Whitpain, having 
died suddenly, May i, 1749, after a trip to Egypt, 
Lehigh county, where on the previous day he had ad- 
ministered the communion to that flock. He left a 
number of children, among whom was long preserved, 
as a relic, an iron chest filled with this pioneer's most 
important church papers and correspondence with the 
church judicatories of Holland and Germany, but which 
valuable historic treasures were, after oft handling, finally 
but most unfortunately given to the flames. Reiger 
lies buried in the First Reformed church of Lancaster, 
a horizontal stone, with an elaborate epitaph, marking 
the spot, and noting his death as occurring in 1769, 
March the nth. 

When the Rev. Michael Schlatter, the great leader 
and organizer of the German Reformed church of 
America (sent by the Reformed Classes of Holland, and 
commissioned to consolidate the scattered Reformed 
congregations upon the basis of their denominational 
order, doctrines and worship) arrived in this country, 
these three named pastors at one time accompanied 
him to this congregation at the Tulpehocken. The 
illustrious patriarch visited here on several other 
occasions, but perhaps the most memorable visit of all 
is that occasioned by the introduction and installation 
of the first regular pastor, in the person of the- Rev. 
Dominicus Bartholomaeus, whom, with Rev. Hoch- 



AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 141 

reutiier, he was instrumental in inducing to come to 
America from Switzerland for the important fields at 
Tulpehocken and Lancaster, respectively. 

Rev. Bartholomaeus took charge at Tulpehocken, 
September, 1748, but was not permitted to labor for 
any length of time. Almost from the very beginning 
of his ministry his health was precarious, causing him 
to cease from its active labors here in 1752, and being 
relieved of his bodily infirmities by death in 1759. The 
writer does not know his place of burial. Rev. Dr. 
William Stoy, who succeeded this first pastor at Tul- 
pehocken, was born in Herborn, Germany, March 14, 
1726, where he was educated for the ministry, and* 
accompanied Rev. Mr. Schlatter to America, one of six 
pastors, whom this leader induced, in a visit to the 
Fatherland in 1752, to accompany him to America to 
serve the church here. He was appointed as successor 
to Mr. Bartholomaeus, when failing health debilitated 
the latter. He remained but three years, when the 
severity of the climate induced him to resign. After 
health improved he accepted a call to Lancaster, and 
from thence came back to the Lebanon Valley, settling 
in Lebanon and operating up and down this valley as a 
physician and minister. He preached here and at Host 
church in Berks county for some time longer, at which 
latter place he was buried, according to his own ante- 
mortem request. A memorial stone with suitable in- 
scription marks his resting place. He died in Lebanon, 
September 14, 1801. Whatever may have been the 



142 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

influence of his gospel teachings, his medical skill was 
admitted, and from his saddle-bags he oft took cures for 
the body. We know not the result of his offers of the 
water of eternal life. Among his remedies was a popu- 
lar preparation known as "Stoy's Drops'^ and an effect- 
ual cure for hydrophobia. 

Rev. John Waldschmidt, who served Tulpehocken 
from 1757 to 1758, was also a native of Germany, and 
one of the six pastors whom Mr. Schlatter induced to 
labor in the American field. He was first stationed in 
Lancaster county, and from thence supplied this church 
for nearly two years. He died in September, 1786, and 
lies buried in the Swamp (Lancaster county) church 
yard, a stone fittingly inscribed marking the spot. 

Rev. Wm. Otterbein, another German, succeeded Mr. 
Waldschmidt in this charge in 1758. He likewise was 
one of Rev. Mr. Schlatter's six apostles, induced by his 
appeal to leave home and native land in the interests of 
the Reformed Zion in America. He, with the other 
five, was ordained to the gospel ministry at the Hague 
and accompanied their earnest leader across the mighty 
deep in 1752. He was a youth of 26 when he arrived, 
and at once entered into an agreement with the Lan- 
caster congregation to serve them for five years. He 
established order and discipline in the church, intro- 
ducing the time-honored custom of each communicant's 
personal interview with the pastor {Anmeldung) a day 
or two prior to the communion. The original paper, 
drawn up by him and signed by 80 members of his 



AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 143 

flock, is preserved in the archives of the Lancaster 
church. He was successful in giving strength and sta- 
bility to this congregation — inducing them to erect 
during his ministry a massive stone church edifice, 
which stood almost a century before it was displaced by 
the present brick structure. He resigned in 1758 and 
assumed charge at Tulpehocken, only as temporary 
supply at first, which continued, however, for several 
3^ears. From Tulpehocken Mr. Otterbein went to 
Frederick, Md., and from thence to Baltimore. Here 
he labored for almost 40 years, until his death, being, 
however, meanwhile instrumental in giving form and 
shape to a new sect or denomination, the United Breth- 
ren in Christ. Later .he seems to have come back to 
his first love, taking a deep interest in the Reformed 
church and dying within her fold, one of the most 
highly gifted preachers and intensely ardent workers ot 
this denomination. He died October 17, 1813, in Bal- 
timore, where the venerable Dr. Kurtz, of the Lutheran 
church, ministered to him in his dying hours and 
preached his German funeral sermon. He lies buried 
near the then Reformed church, now United Breth- 
ren, in Conway street of that city. Bishop Asbury, 
first bishop of the M. E. church, whom the former 
assisted to consecrate to the bishopric, and whose inti- 
mate friendship he enjoyed, spoke a special eulogium to 
his memory in the Conway street church from Rev. iii. 
lo-ii. Mr. Otterbein's tomb is well preserved and 
marked by a marble entablature, bearing the data of a 
brief memorial. 



144 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Rev. John J. Zufall succeeded Mr. Otterbein at 
Tulpehocken, and served this charo^e from 1765 to 1769. 
Tliere is not much recorded concerning this pastor's 
work or career from which the writer could trace a life 
sketch. 

Rev. William Hendel, Sr. , served Tulpehocken from 
1769 to 1782. He arrived in this country from his 
native Palatinate in 1764, and assumed charcre at Lan- 
caster. From thence he came to Tulpehocken, labor- 
ing here during the Revolutionary war period. After 
an efficient ministry of thirteen years, he returned to 
Lancaster. In 1794, he accepted a call to Philadelphia, 
laboring there during that period of trial occasioned by 
the pestilence, which plague finally made him its 
victim, ending in death September 28, 1798. He is 
buried by the side of many of his ministerial brethren, 
in Franklin Square, Philadelphia. Dr. Helmuth, of 
the Lutheran church, his warm and faithful friend, 
preached at his obsequies, from the text 2 Samuel i. 
26. Dr. Harbaugh called Hendel "the St. John of the 
Reformed Church." A friend composed a special 
hymn on his death, which, however, we have not space 
to quote. 

Rev. Andrew Loretz, the next pastor, was a sort of 
unaccountable personage in the annals of the Reformed 
Church — a mysterious, Melchizedek kind of prophet, 
whose parentage and general history is hidden. A 
native of Switzerland, he came to America in 1784, and 
the next year settled at Tulpehocken, where he served 



AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 145 

this church and those at Swatara, Heidelbergtown, 
Lebanon and Hill. His Swiss dialect is said to have 
interfered with his usefulness here, and he, therefore, 
soon returned to Europe, leaving this charge again 
vacant in 1786. 

Rev. Daniel Wagner succeeded him in 1787. He 
was born in the duchy of Nassau, Germany, but came 
with his parents to this country when two years of age, 
settling temporarily in Chester county, but after a few 
years taking up their permanent abode in Bern town- 
ship, Berks county, Pa. He labored in the ministry in 
York county for fifteen years before assuming charge at 
Tulpehocken, where he remained four years, when he' 
again returned to York, remaining nine years longer, 
when he settled at Frederick, Md. After a few more 
years' labor here he became disabled, removing back to 
York in 1810, only to die and be buried there, which 
occurred in December of the same year. There many 
of his descendants still reside. 

Rev. Dr. Wm. Hendel, Jr., eldest son of the senior 
Hendel, succeeded Rev. Wagner. In youth he was un- 
der the tutelage of the celebrated Lutheran divines, Drs. 
Kunze and Helmuth, graduating later from Columbia 
college, N. Y., and from the New Brunswick Theolog- 
ical Seminary. He was ordained in 1793, and at once 
assumed charge at Tulpehocken, remaining thirty 
years. He was a progressive man, much in advance of 
his brethren of that day in point of liberal thought. 
For his advocacy of missions and the establishment of a 



146 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Theological Seminary of his church he was violently 
persecuted. It was by his casting vote, as President of 
Synod, that the first Theological Seminary of the Re- 
formed church was established. In 1823 ^^^ resigned 
several of his churches and removed to Womelsdorf, 
where he continued to preach six years longer, when he 
retired from the sacred office, only preaching occa- 
sionally after that date as supply for his brethren. He 
died at Womelsdorf on July 11, 1846, and there was 
buried. (See chapter on Womelsdorf.) 

At his funeral the Rev. John C. Bucher, of Reading, 
who was one of the officiating clergymen, made the 
startling statement at the request of deceased, that he 
(the deceased) had lived and preached all his years with 
a mere theoretical knowledge of the religion and the 
grace of God, and that he had never enjoyed the favor 
and pardon of God in its fullest and experimental sense 
before impending death opened his eyes to his dreadful 
situation. He then called on God and found peace. 
By request, this statement was to be made at his funeral, 
to warn other pastors against a false trust or hope, and 
to urge his own members to seek the Lord's pardon and 
experimental grace while it was yet day. The "Evan- 
gelical Association," or some members of it, made stock 
of this confession, and gave it publicity by means of a 
printed tract which they circulated. 

The Leinbach brethren, Thomas and Charles, in turn 
succeeded Dr. Hendel at Tulpehocken, and served the 
charge for more than fifty years. They were both well 



AN HOUR WITH REFORMED PASTORS. 1 47 

adapted for this field, and under the ministry of the 
former some of the greatest improvements of the church 
were made — such as the building of the present church 
edifice, and the celebration of the centennial of the 
church in 1847, ^^^ of which helped to strengthen the 
cause of the congregation. He also succeeded in divid- 
ing the large membership into two congregations, and 
thus establishing the Reformed congregation at Myers- 
town, and building that edifice. He died at Millers- 
burg, Berks county, on Thursday, March 31, 1864, 
having there been seized with violent sickness, while 
officiating on the preceding Sunday. His funeral was 
a solemn occasion, attended by a large concourse of 
people, when several sermons were preached, the prin- 
cipal one by Dr. J. S. Dubbs, of AUentown, who was a 
classmate of his, and a mutual friend throughout life — 
each having officiated at the marriage of the other. Mr. 
Leinbach was the first person buried in the new cemetery 
at Tulpehocken, and a marble monument marks the 
site of his resting place, close to its entrance near the 
church. The following inscription is engraved thereon : 

In Memory of 
Rev. Thomas H. Leinbach, 
Pastor of this Con- 
gregation for 38 years. 
Commenced 
in March, 1826, 

Ended 

in March, 1864. 

"I am the Resurrection and the Life, &c." 



148 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

His brother Charles succeeded him, and served the 
church for 20 years. He lies buried near his brother, 
and a granite shaft tells this story: 

Rev. Charles H. Leinbach, D. D., 

Born 

Nov. 7, 1815, 

Died 

July 15, 1883. 

"He Giveth His Beloved Sleep." 

Pastor Tulpehocken Charge, May i, 1863, to July, 1883. 

Since 1884 Pastor Welker has done good work here, 
and continues his successful labors. But we cannot 
tarry any longer. Therefore, dismissing this distin- 
guished array of divines, and breaking up our happy 
conference with the living and dead abruptly, let us be 
off after the many landmarks that still abide in this his- 
torically rich valley. To the departed, ''^Reqtnescaitt in 
pace!''^ To the only living pastoral toiler and his 
helpers, ^''Dominiis Vobisann/^'' 



CHAPTER XVr. 

A STROLL ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN. 

The genial spring sun has made angling seasonable. 
The very allusion to this boyhood sport, combines with 
the climate to awaken fondest memories. A flood of 
delightful recollections, like unto the brooks at spring- 
time, all whose fountain-heads have been let loose and 
whose banks run full to overflowing, is started and' 
flows through the channels of our soul at the very sight 
of a stream of water in spring time. Being on the 
banks of a gamey stream, how would it be if we'd spend 
a day in fishing up the historic Tulpehocken? All my 
readers being agreed, this will we do to-day. Only we 
shall not angle for the finny tribe, but will endeavor to 
land a few big fish in the line of facts of antique inter- 
est, that sport unknown or almost forgotten in the 
stream of historic events that courses along the banks 
of this familiar creek. 

Therefore, leaving the comfortable and ancient old 
manse of the Reformed by the Tulpehocken, we will 
go up its waters, along which our forefathers made the 
first settlement in this valley. First, then, we come to 
the old mill property, known for over a century as the 
'' Church Mill," because until recently it was owned by 

(149) 



150 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

the congregation and turned out one grist for the tem- 
poral support of the church and another to furnish the 
supporting staff of the temporal life of its membership. 
Thence, going up the windings of this stream, there is 
not an old homestead from here to its source, five miles 
west, that has not a story of earnest struggle and 
anxious fear, because of the many depredations of the 
savages, hid away in its early history. Here the land 
was first occupied by the earliest settlers, because of the 
water convenience. Here the Schoharie fugitives first 
squatted and developed their plantations, for which 
most of them afterwards paid. Along this stream, the 
Millbach and the Swatara, the very first homes in the 
valley were founded. Many of these homesteads have 
come into other hands, but until recently many were 
still in the possession of the direct descendants of the 
original owners. 

If we would take our stroll up the turnpike, just a 
quarter of a mile at most places north of this creek, and 
running in the main parallel to it, we could the better 
point out these old settlements, because this excellent 
highway is on higher ground. And thither let us re- 
pair to gain the best point of view. Our line — a line of 
vision, however — will still be long enough to let the 
baited hook drop into this stream to our south, and also 
into the "Owl Creek," that rises in the hillsides to our 
north and flows in a westerly and southwesterly course, 
emptying into the Tulpehocken just east of Myerstown. 

Along the Tulpehocken are the Haack and Kreitzer 



A STROLL ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN. I51 

and Briddebach (Breitenbach) estates and others. Along 
the Owl creek are the homesteads of the original An- 
spachs, Walborns, Lauers, Noackres, lyenne, and so forth. 
The whole of this territory to the north and south, and 
even more than is included in this described district, 
lying east of Myerstown, situated in what is now Jack- 
son township, was originally taken up by one Casper 
Wister, who is described in all ancient documents as 
" the brass-button maker of Philadelphia." The writer 
was recently shown, by the present owner of the Brei- 
tenbach farm, Mr. Richard Miller, of Myerstown, an 
old parchment deed, dated August 7, 1754, which 
legally conveyed the small tract of about four acres 
from Martin Noacker and wife to Philip Breitenbach, 
for the sum of 35 pounds, 8 shillings and 6 pence. Said 
tract was a portion of a farm which Martin Noacker 
bought of John Noacker in 1750, who had purchased it 
from Casper Wister, "the brass-button maker of Phila- 
delphia," who had received, November 10, 1738, by in- 
denture from the proprietaries, the amount of 1,724 
acres, at an annual quit rental of one red rose for 10,000 
acres. On this four-acre tract an Indian fort was 
erected by Philip Breitenbach, to which the neighbor- 
ing inhabitants were wont to flee in cases of emergency 
during the war period with the Indians. We are told 
that the great-hearted Breitenbach "was wont, on 
many occasions of alarm, to take his drum and beat it 
on an eminence near his house, to collect the neighbors 
from work, into the fort. On one occasion the Indians 



152 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



pursued them close to the house, when one of the in- 
mates took up a gun and sliot the Indian dead on the 
spot." — Rupp^ s History of BeT-ks and Leha7i07t Counties. 
On this "eminence" of Breitenbach, evidently east 
of his home, where we find it as of old, let us take our 
stand and " view the landscape o'er." We are just half 
a mile east of Myerstown. Our feet now rest on truly 




THE BREITENBACH INDIAN FORT HOMESTEAD, EAST OF MYERSTOWN. 



historic ground. Facing the west, before us lies the 
Breitenbach homestead, on the south of the pike. The 
headstone on barn (second building) bears date of 1802. 
By it, at the base of the brow of this historic "emi- 



A STROLL ALONG THE TULPEHOCKKN. 1 53 

iieiice," flows the "Owl Creek," in which, tradition 
says, General Washington watered his horse on one of 
his visits to or journeys through this valley. To the 
left, but a little over a stone's throw from the pike, 
stands an old stone residence, with arched cellar, seven- 
teen steps deep, for safe refuge from the savages, which 
may be the Indian fort which Breitenbach built, though 
another spot near the Owl creek is pointed out as the 
place where, until recently, the ruins could be seen. 
This old relic, still standing, but fast going into decay 
because no longer occupied, is now the property of Mr. 
Harry Kreitzer, of Philadelphia, who, just a little east 
of our observation point, has a comfortable residence for 
his summer quarters. Near this place, on the Kreitzer 
estate, is the stone crusher — long since idle, after a* 
futile attempt at gold mining. To our right, on the 
north side of the pike, almost near enough to touch the 
roofs of the buildings, is the present Tice homestead, 
but for a long time used as a hotel, and built by Peter 
Len, in 1777. It is a large and well-kept limestone 
country house, surrounded by ample grounds as yard. 
A special stone in the side of the house facing the road- 
way, bears the somewhat common legend found on old 
homes in this district, namely: 



GOTT 


. GESEGNE 


. DIE- 


SES . HAVS . 


WER 


DA GET 


EIN . 


VND 


. AVS 


. 1777. 


PETR . 


LEN 


. EPA 


LENIN 



II 



154 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



As a door-step, a broken milestone has done service 
for many years. It bears the following information to 
the wayfarer that may chance to try the knocker of this 
liospitable home, and who casts his eyes downward 
while awaiting a response: 





w 


^ 


W 




^ 


u 


t- 


Pm 


^ 


^ 


C^ 


u 






c 


^ 


o 


o 








\ 




t^ 


H 


(N 


X 


" 1 



Over this door-step have walked the Tice family, as 
they took leave of the old home — some of whom have 
since gone out to their long home. One son has used 
it as a stepping-stone from a peaceful and quiet home- 
life into the prominence and usefulness of a professor's 
life, and is now employed in some institution in Mont- 
gomery county. 

A little north of the Tice homestead is the Noacker 
farm, with its imposing farm dwellings, settled early, as 
we have already seen, on a portion of the "brass-button 
maker's" tract. Beyond this place is the Lauer home, 
where the greatest benefactor (?) to the bibulous of old 
Berks and of East Pennsylvania generally, was reared — 
the noted beer-brewer of Reading, Mr. Frederick Lauer. 

Between the Tice homestead and the Noacker farm, 
the grading of the land still shows where the old road 
wound around the steep "eminence" of Breitenbach, 
before the Berks and Dauphin turnpike was located 
right over it. It crossed the Owl creek at about the 
same place the pike does, and took a westerly and 



A STROLI. ALONG THE TULPEHOCKEN. 



155 



southwesterly course from thence to the Tulpehocken, 
south of Myerstown, where still stands the residence of 
this town's founder, Mr. Isaac Myers. 

And right here, in front of the old Breitenbach home, 
where this pioneer parted this life, we will part com- 
pany for the day. Let me only add that Mr. and Mrs. 
Breitenbach lie buried side by side on the Christ Tulpe- 
hocken lyUtheran graveyard, and their graves are 
marked by fitting stones. The following is a specimen 
of their tombstones, the wife's (Elizabeth) being similar 
to his : 




Hier Ruhet 

PHIIvIP BREITENBACH 

War gebohren 

den 6 October 1725 

und starb 
den 26 October 1790 

War alt 
65 Jahr und 20 Tage, 



CHAPTER XVII. 

TULPEHOCKENTOWN, ALIAS MYERSTOWN. 

It may not be generally known, even to the inhabi- 
tants of the town itself, that Myerstown — the place we 
are about to "do" historically to-day — was originally 
called Tulpehockentown. It is a question whether all 
the Lebanon county towns had not better kept their first 
names and thus carried out the evident wishes of their 
modest founders, who stood as sponsors when these local 
communities were originally christened. There certainly 
seems more beauty and taste in such names as Newburg, 
Heidelbergtown, Nassau, Williamburg and Tulpe- 
hockentown, than such bold appellations of ownership 
as a later generation attributed and expressed in the 
present sobriquets of Newmanstown, Schaefferstown, 
Stumpstown, Jonestown, and Myerstown. Lebanon 
has done wisely in dropping the assumed name of its 
founder and adopting instead the euphonious Scriptural 
name first given to the township in which it was 
located. Think of such a city as Lebanon being called 
by the German jawbreaker, Steitztown! 

But what is there in a name? Well, in the instance 
of most of our country towns, it preserves a fact in the 
history of their founding. And since they teach us his- 

(156) 






AUAS MYERSTOWN. 1 57 

tory, we shall let them stand. Only what I have to say 
concerning first names is history also, and therefore I 
insist on being heard when I recall to the minds of my 
readers what is evinced from old documents, that the 
original name given to Myerstown was Tnlpehocken- 
town. It does not require any extensive search, or any 
stretch of the imagination, to find a reason for this. The 
town was located on the banks of this stream, close to 
which stood, and still stands, the house of its founder, 
Mr. Isaac Myers. lyCt me therefore lead my readers to 
this landmark, from which to take bearings. 

Leaving the Breitenbach "eminence," just east of 
town, the old road was identical with the pike, from the* 
east about a square into town, from whence its course 
branched off" this present main thoroughfare of the 
borough to the southwest, till it reached the Tulpe- 
hocken, at where the Myers residence is still found, 
about a quarter of a mile due south of the town center. 
There is an old log house — now encased in weather- 
boards — that still stands at this junction of the pike with 
the old road, which faced this original highway and 
stands therefore at an angle to the pike, which it also 
attempts to front. When Isaac Myers in 1768 laid out 
the village, this old highway still led through a dense 
forest, and within it were planted, as the first scattered 
homes of the new settlement, the houses of Christian 
Maurer, Henry Brill, Nicolas Cast, Messrs. Haussegger, 
Schumacher, Hoffman, Schnell, etc., most of them 
honest German artisans. As early as 1738 a tract of 



158 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



321 acres was conveyed by "the brass-button maker of 
Philadelphia " (Casper Wister), to Henry Bassler, whose 
descendants of the fifth generation still "hold the fort" 
in the western end of town. This family has been 




THE ISAAC MEIER HOMESTEAD, MYERSTOWN. 

prominent in the annals of the town. The grandfather 
of the present John H. Bassler, who attained a reputa- 
tion for brilliant services in the late rebellion, Simon 
Bassler, Sr., "was detailed as one of the company called 
upon to guard the captured Hessians imprisoned for a 
time at Hebron." 

Mr. Isaac Myers, the founder, was a native of this val- 
ley. He built his home on the banks of the Tulpehocken 



TULPEHOCKENTOWN, ALIAS MYERSTOWN. 1 59 

about the middle of last century. Here he reared his 
family, some of whose descendants have made their 
mark in life. Among them are such names as the 
Hiesters and Reilys and Woods — families into which his 
daughters w^ere married. Both Captain John Reily and 
Col. Joseph Wood, two sons-in-law, achieved notoriety 
during the revolution. The late Prof. Wm. M. Reily, 
Ph. D., long at the head of Palatinate College* (Re- 
formed) located here, was a descendant. 

The old house has passed out of the family hand and 
name, and is now the property of Dr. W. C. Kline, the 
enterprising druggist of town. It is quite a relic of 
antiquity. Its walls are three feet thick, it having often* 
sheltered the neighbors from the attacks of the Indians. 
The present owner has carefully kept in their original 
condition the garret rooms, which were once occupied 
by the colored slaves of its first, likewise their owner 
and master. 

The manner in which so conspicuous and enterprising 
a career as that of the founder of Myerstow^n came to an 
end is worthy of note. Being elected to the office of 
magistrate, there were public acts of his to be performed 
which incurred the enmity of some persons. Hence a 
snare was set for taking vengeance on him. Being sum- 
moned away from home one night on the ostensible pur- 
pose of transacting business at some wayside inn, Mr. 
Myers answered the call, and here fell a victim into the 

*This school is now (1895) the Albright Collegiate Institute of the 
United Evangelical Church. 



l6o LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

hands of his secret foes. Sitting with his back to a 
window, he was fatally shot from the outside. He lived 
long enough to be taken to his home, however, whither 
he summoned a few friends with whom he held an 
interview, after which he requested his wife never to 
search for his murderers nor prosecute them if discovered, 
as their guilty conscience would be punishment enough 
for them. He then died in the bosom of his family. 
We found his grave in the old Tulpehocken Reformed 
graveyard marked by a large, flat stone, about 2^ by 6 
ft., covering his entire grave. The following inscrip- 
tion is still quite legible : 



HIER LIGT IN 

GOTT SELICH 

ENTSCHLAFBN 

@ ISACK . MEIER <§ 

1ST GEBOHREN 

1730 DE 4TE 

lANVARI. 1ST 

GESTORBEN 

1770 DEN 5TE 

IVLL SO WAR 

SEIN GANZES 

ALTER 40 lA- 

HR V. 6 MONAT 

SEIN LEIGEN 

TEXT STET 

IN DER ERSTEN 

EPI. PETRI 

IM 5TE C H. 

IM 8. V. 9. VE. 



TULPEHOCKENTOWN, ALIAS MYERSTOWN. l6l 

Dr. Kline is also the owner and occupant of another 
noted landmark of this town. This is the residence of 
the late Governor J. Andreas Shultze. It is a well 
known fact that after this illustrious son of the pious 




THE SHUIvTZE HOUSE, MYERSTOWN. 



lyUtheran pastor at Tulpehocken had himself studied for 
the ministry and made an attempt of its arduous labors, 
finding- himself physicially incapacitated for its trials 
and hardships in that day, relinquished the sacred call- 
ing and entered secular life. He settled in Myerstown, 
and for a number of years carried on the mercantile 
business here. This place is somewhat centrally located 



l62 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



on the north side of its main street. It has been used 
for the past sixteen years as the site of the town postoffice, 
and only abandoned as such recently at a chano^e of the 
complexion of our National administration. Since 1879 
this old store stand and home has been the property of 
Dr. Kline, whose family occupies the domestic portion 
of the historic edifice, while the doctor's drug-store fills 
the newer portion of the building, not used by the post- 
office, which latter is a room of about 30 by 25 feet in 
dimensions, now vacant since the ex-postmaster, Mr. 
Milton Myers, was obliged to hand his keys and com- 
mission over to his Democratic successor. The stone 
barn erected on the rear of the lot still bears the date of 
its erection and the initials of the once illustrious owner 
and dweller here, through whose veins flowed at suc- 
cessive stages of his life the blood of theology, business 
and statesmanship. The following is a fac-simile of 
this date stone : 




It would seem as if ownership or occupancy of this 
Shultze house brought distinction in its course, for there 
has not been a possessor of it since, who has not grown 



TULPEHOCKENTOWN, ALIAS MYERSTOWN. 163 

into some degree of local fame. From Shultze the prop- 
erty passed into the hands of Daniel Stine, esq., who 
was afterwards elected to the legislature. He trans- 
ferred it to Mr. Joseph Coover, who] was elected associ- 
ate judge of the county in 1866. So likewise it was 
owned by Mr. Burkholder, who attained some promi- 
nence; and by W. M. Ulrich, who rose in the rebellion 
to the distinction of General, and who has since the late 
war founded an independent settlement in Virginia, 
about 20 miles south of Washington, D. C, which he 
has named " Mt. Herndon," and where he resides in af- 
fluence and honor. The writer gives this timely notice 
to the present owner to prepare himself for the "light-* 
ning " of greatness which has been accustomed to take 
this old building as a favorite conductor. "Some men 
are born great, some achieve greatness, but some have 
greatness thrust upon them." 

By going a few hundred yards to the west of this 
Shultze house, we come to the spot where until recently 
stood, to the south of the pike or main street, an old 
landmark of historic interest. This was the old school 
house of ante-revolutionary founding. The site is now 
occupied by a modern frame house owned by a Mrs. 
Dundore. The writer was recently shown a parchment 
deed by ex- Judge Coover, dated Sept. 12, 1765, wherein 
Simon Bassler and his wife, Eva Maria, conveyed to 
Nicholas Swingle, jr., and Nicholas Hauseker, trustees, 
a certain tract of land or lot described as bordering on 
lands of Isaac Myers, &c., for the sum of one pound 



164 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and 10 shillings for school purposes forever. This was 
acknowledged before the noted J. P. DeHaas, esq., and 
recorded at Lancaster by Edward Shippen, recorder. 
On this lot a school house was erected, which was as a 
" city set on a hill " to enlighten four or five generations 
of Myerstown's young Americans. When finally these 
subscription or parochial schools were superseded by 
our free schools, this old friend gradually grew into dis- 
favor until the building alone was left to tell its story of 
former blessedness. When Mr. Daniel Stine represented 
this district in our state legislature he was authorized 
by an act of assembly to vacate or sell the property and 
with the money to buy a burial ground, where the com- 
munity for "six miles around " might find the right of 
sepulture, Messrs. Bassler and Mosser being trustees. 
In this deed, to which are affixed quaint seals, the town 
is named *' Tulpehockintown." 

Another old school house, octagonal in shape, still 
stands at the eastern end of town, but is now used as a 
blacksmith shop. 

On the old cemetery (Lutheran and Reformed) located 
in the western portion of the town, next to the Frieden's 
Lutheran church, are found the graves of the old sires 
and settlers of this community. Such names as the 
Leys, Valentines, Spanglers, Batdorfs, Grohs, Mossers, 
Stoevers, Burkholders, Koppenhavers, Basslers, Zart- 
mans, etc., are among the oldest. Close to the church 
walls are two graves that meant more to me than others, 
because here we know stood the ex-Governor Shultze 



TULPEHOCKENTOWN, ALIAS MYERSTOWN. 



if>5 



when their enclosed remains were solemnly laid aside. 
They are the graves of Mr. and Mrs. I^eonard Immel, 
the parents-in-law of this noted governor. The follow- 
ing epitaph marks the resting place of this sturdy 
illustrious farmer, whose rural home to the southwest of 
town the young, ambitious preacher-merchant entered 
to carry away as prize an accomplished and winsome 



daughter : 



n 





Dencknial 

Der Liebe Fur 

Leonhard Immei. 

Sohn von 

Johann und Barbara Immel. 

Er erblickte das Licht dieser Welt auf 

den I4ten Tag October 1747 

und starb 

den 2ten Tag Juny A. D. 1839. 

Brachte seine irdische Walfarth auf 

91 Jahre, 7 Monate 

und 20 Tag. 



Leichentext die 2 Epistle St. Paull an 
Timotheum, das 4 Capital, 
Der 7 u 8 vers. 



The wife's tombstone is similar in form and its 
inscription akin in substance to his. And here where 
these illustrious kindred parted company for life we will 
end this chapter. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 

Having parted company with my readers in the 
shadow of the Myerstown Lutheran and Reformed 
churches, which lift up their tall spires towards the 
skies as memorials of the piety of the generations that 
have passed away, as constant indices pointing to and 
reminding one of a protecting and beneficient divine 
Ruler, and as so many marks of grace and ornament to 
the thriving borough that has spread itself about their 
base, let us prepare to take a walk to-day of several 
miles up the pike, which leads through truly historic 
ground. Casting our eyes to the north and south — es- 
pecially to the south, where flows the story-laden Tulpe- 
hocken — we shall pass not a single old homestead that 
is not linked by a chainwork of interesting events to the 
earliest days of this valley's settlement. 

Before leaving, however, this long-time meeting place 
of these honored German ancestors and this final gather- 
ing place of their bones, where most of the illustrious 
sires sleep, whose once thriving homes we shall visit to- 
day, let us take a brief look into the history of these 
churches. Thus we learn that originally this locality 
worshipped at the Tulpehocken churches, as few others 

Ci66) 



A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 167 

besides Lutherans and Reformed had settled here. 
In course of time, however, distance and the increase of 
population in this vicinity suggested the planting of 
churches at Myerstown. Accordingly as early as 1811, 
steps were taken towards organizing the Lutheran church 
by the westernmost members of the Tulpehocken flock. 
At the original meeting, held June 23, 1811, it was 
resolved to build a church, and as a building committee 
the following persons were chosen, viz. : Christian Ley, 
Leonard Immel, Leonard Rambler, Jacob Laehn, 
Christopher Liess, Christian Artz and Martin Moyer. 
We have already learned that Messrs. Michael Mosser 
and Simon Bassler donated a lot for building and burial 
purposes — the latter common to Lutherans and Re- 
formed alike — to all "living within a radius of six 
miles." All of these leaders named lie buried on this 
ancient graveyard, and into most of their homes we shall 
have occasion to peep to-day. The first trustees were 
Michael Ley, Leonard Immel and J. Andreas Shulze, 
the future governor. 

In 181 2 the church was built and consecrated. It was 
a stone structure, and was of sufficient dimensions for 
the time (55x36 ft.,) and at once equipped with a bell 
and soon with a pipe organ. In 1857 the present impos- 
ing brick edifice was erected. The following pastors 
have served the same : 

Rev. William Baetes 1812-1824 

Rev. W. G. Krnst, D. D 1824-1849 

Rev. G. F. Krotel, D. D 1849-1852 



l68 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Rev. T. T. Jaeger 1852-1855 

Rev. L. G. Eggers 1855-1866 

Rev. F. J. F. Schantz, D. D 1867-date 

The Reformed did not withdraw from the mother 
(Tulpehocken) church until i860, when 250 members, 
who had been for some time previously served as a 
branch congregation, separated and organized the church 
and erected the large and commodious limestone struc- 
ture now gracing this end of town. The Mossers, 
Diehls, Basslers, Sherks, Looses, Spanglers, Muths, 
Baneys, Tices and others have been the leading families 
of this flock, now about 500 strong. Only Rev. Dr. 
George Wolff and his son, David, have preceded the 
present pastor, Rev. Mr. Gonser, in the sacred office 
here. The latter assumed the charge only about two 
years ago. 

There are other churches of town, such as the United 
Brethren and the Evangelical, which have doubtless ex- 
erted their healthful influence upon the community, but 
they do not stand so much in the line of the ancient and 
the historic, and therefore w^e shall not enter into their 
records, but bid this ancient " Tulpehockentown " a re- 
luctant good-bye, and begin our march up the valley to 
where many of the earliest noted actors of this com- 
munity first planted their American homes. 

Turning to the south from West Myerstown, the first 
plantation west of Myers' is that of Heinrich Bassler, 
who in 1738 purchased of "the brass-button maker of 
Philadelphia" a tract of over 300 acres and reared his 



A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 169 

lome on the banks of the Tulpehocken. Here he raised 
family that has continued to this day of the fifth or 
ixth generation to hand down the mantle of this pio- 
leer's energy and far-sightedness. These have kept the 
lame untarnished, some of them adding to its celebrity 
or valor and patriotism. They have also kept the old 
lomestead in the family name and hands. The 
'resent owner is Mrs. Sallie Bassler. 

The next western neighbor, settled even before Mr. 
)assler and also on the Tulpehocken, was Leonhard 
Lamler. The original buildings have all been super- 
seded by second buildings, though these are quite old. ■ 
The present owner is Mr. John Gockley. There hangs 
about this place the story, so common throughout this 
valley, of shelter against Indian depredations. All 
along this valley, in truth, the tomahawk and scalping 
knife were used. (It should have been said in connec- 
tion with the first long-historic German school-house of 
Myerstown, that tradition reports the massacre of seven 
white persons there by the Indians.) From this home 
wended the first funeral procession to the Myerstown 
cemetery, when Mrs. Anna Barbara Ramler, at the age 
of 78 years, was borne hence for burial there. 

Going still westward along the banks of this stream, 
we come next to the Immel homestead, originally one 
plantation, but later subdivided into two farms. The 
easternmost house, which may have been the first, so 
inferred on account of traces of an old road near it and 
i^he story of fortifications here, has yielded to the exac- 
12 



170 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



tions of time, and been displaced about twenty -two 
years ago by a new structure of frame. It is now owned 
by the Donges Bros, of the Myerstown mercantile firm, 
and the farm is in present charge of Mr. Dechert. But 
the westernmost homestead is quite ancient. It has all 




THE IMMEIy HOMESTEAD. 



the characteristics of age, such as its broken front door, 
its wall closets, its fifteen-inch wide oak flooring, its 
large and wide Queen Anne mantel and fire place, and 
its solid masonry, well preserved. Only the tiles have 
given place to shingles, the former stored beside the 
home, which if they were old-fashioned German wafiles 
# — a thing they much resemble — should have been de- 



A WAIvK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 171 

voiired long ago. We should think they would " take " 
as relics among the descendants of the Immels and 
Governor Shulze, quite as well as such hot-cakes. For 
here it was that the future Governor of our State visited 
when a youth, and in his best suit and smiles. 

There was a charming daughter in this home in his 
day, then presided over by Leonhard Immel, who had 
completely captivated this young aspirant's heart. Was 
she a member of his father's choir at Tulpehocken, 
famous and enchanting for her singing, or only a meek 
and modest member of the flock, winsome for her piety 
or her blushing beauty ? The writer cannot tell. But, 
the charm went forth from her life that landed Cupid's 
dart, and left it quivering in the heart of the pastor's 
noble son, which made him doubtless repair once a week 
to this ancient fireside for healing. We took interest in 
finding the identical room in which this courtship was 
held, unchanged by any modernization whatever. The 
interior arrangement of this house might well serve as a 
model, so well is the space utilized. The stairway is * 
convenient to every apartment and yet out of the way. 
The rooms communicate and are accessible from the 
hall, in which is a large fire-place and Queen Anne 
oak mantel, that speaks of the charms and poetry of 
rural life in winter. The farm is now the property 
of Mrs. Capt. John H. Bassler, a sister of Rev. Dr. 
Mosser, of Reading. The following inscription we 
found on a sandstone still preserved in the front eleva- 
tion: , ^ 



172 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 











HANNBS 
IMMEL 

ANNA 
BARBARA. 








_ 



This " Hannes Immel " was the father of Leonhard 
Immel, whose name has already been alluded to and his 
tombstone transcribed in our last chapter, who was the 
father of Mrs. Gov. Shulze, and the progenitor of the 
Immels still found in this community, one of whom fills 
the honorable position of banker at Myerstown. Mr. 
Zartman is farming the plantation where these illustrious 
ancestors raised their earlier crops. 

Next west to Immels is the Spangler home. This 
original homestead is now also divided into two farms. 
The westernmost home is the site of the first dwellings, 
and those now standing are considerably over a century 
old. The barn contains a stone bearing date of 1782, 
with initials of " G. Sp." and " B. Sp." This farm is 
now owned by Miss Cora Kilmer, while the east half is 
the property of Mr. Henry Hauck. 



A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 



^n 



Next we come to the most historic and wealthy 
ancient homestead of them all. It is the reputed Ley 
(Lei) homestead and is located at the source of the Tul- 
pehocken, about two miles west of Myerstown. Here 
from among limestone rocks springs forth the Tulpe- 




THE ANCIENT I,EI (LEY) HOMESTEAD, MODERNIZED BY MR. SAMUEIv URICH, 

(present owner). 



hocken, like Minerva from the head of Jove, a full- 
grown stream and daughter of the mighty deep. Here 
the Indians had reared a village of wigwams and buried 
their dead, many of whose bones and relics have been 
disinterred durinor the makino^ of recent excavations. 



174 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Here the wealthy German emigrant Lei pitched his 
tent and took up looo acres of land. In 1769 he, or his 
son, built the second house which is still standing, re- 
modeled and enlarged by its present owner, Mr. Samuel 
Urich, into one of the most palatial abodes of the county. 
But even in the days of its erection it was already a 
mansion. It has a lovely site on a hillock fronting the 
south. Its walls, now ivy-covered in part, are of regular 
dressed limestone, with sandstone trimmings. Two 
sandstones in its front elevation read as follows : 



O MENSCH 

CEDE® © NCK 

DER LE I TST I EN STUN 



17 



EVA MAGDALE 

NA LEI . IN 69 



^ GOTT . GESEGNE 

DIESES . HAUS . UND 

ALLES . WAS . DA . GED 

EIN OD I ER AUS 

1769 



MICHAEL 




LEI 



S 



Hither General Washington came with some of his 
stafFofficers, such as Generals Hiester, Keim and Ermen- 
trout of Berks county, and others, for a few days' hunt 



i 



A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 1 75 

and recreation. It is supposed this happened in 1777, 
when Washington's army occupied Valley Forge, inas- 
much as a letter extant — addressed by Washington to 
Gen. Wayne, from Reading Furnace, September 17, 
1777 — shows him to have been in this valley then. It 
may also have been in November, 1793, when President 
of the United States, inasmuch as he spent the night of 
the 13th of that month and year in Womelsdorf, where 
the Ermentrouts then lived. Tradition has the follow- 
ing story of this visit. One day about half a dozen 
riders reined up their horses in front of this hospitable 
abode, then still comparatively surrounded by a forest. 
It chanced that Mrs. Lei and a "redemptioner" womarf 
by the name of Sherk — ancestor of the present Sherk 
family of this valley — who served here, were washing 
clothes at the wash-house in their bare feet and scant 
loose habits. Their attention was called by these 
strange yeomanry-soldiers amid great embarrassment 
and confusion. The strangers presently made known 
their names and purposes, whereupon the men folks 
were summoned from the fields, who soon responded 
to speak and act the words and deeds of welcome. 
Soon plans were consummated for a two or three days' 
fishing and hunting sport, for all of which the guests 
were prepared and the host was soon ready. In the 
southwest room, known as the Blue Room, of this 
ancient hospitable abode, the host, who was a Revo- 
lutionary Captain, spent the evenings with his illus- 
trious visitors, while the southeast room on the second 



176 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

floor is still pointed out as the bed-room of the great 
General. This latter was always the private sleeping 
room of the late Rev. Isaac K. Loose, of Bethlehem, 
when he visited his old home, the property having fallen 
into the Loose hands after it slipped out of those of 
this original owner and his descendants, which oc- 
curred through heavy losses in coal speculation in the 
time of Christian, a son or grandson. Many other 
noteworthy incidents cluster about this place which 
would be interesting to the average reader, but space 
forbids their mention. 

Both the original Michael and Eva M. Lei are buried 
at the Union graveyard at Myerstown, in the shadow of 
Frieden's Lutheran church, herein described. He died 
in 1824 (born 1739), and she in 1815 (born 1744). Here 
also lies buried their son Christian, who was born in 
1762 and died in 1832, having been, as we have seen, a 
member of the building committee of the church. His 
wife, Anna Catharine (CoppenhofFer), died by accidental 
poisoning January nth, 1822, and lies buried by his 
side. Their son. Christian, died a few years ago at 
Pinegrove, a nonegenarian. 

But we must go on in our westward march. By 
going a mile up the pike from this place and turning 
north an eighth of a mile at Mr. Cyrus Baney's palatial 
residence, we will reach the farm of Mr. Henry Tice of 
West Myerstown. There are stones in the large house 
showing that it was erected by Philip and Eve Tice in 
182 1, who were descendants of the first settlers here. 



A WALK OVER HISTORIC GROUND. 1 77 

whose original house contains an anvil -shaped stone in 
its gable, reading thus : 



M. T. 



1744:. 




This is the house from which was taken the richly- 
finished walnut door now on exhibition in Mr. George 
M. Stanley's store of lycbanon. It consists of 356 pieces, 
inlaid and carved. Not a nail is used in its construc- 
tion. Here it swung on its curious wrought-iron 
hinges for a century and a half, letting in and out suc- 
cessive generations of Tices. We will let an imaginary 
swing of this door bring to an abrupt close the wander- 
ings over historic territory we have taken in this chapter. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ENCAMPED NEAR LEBANON. 

For the past four months I have conducted my army 
of explorers through the historic field lying east of Leb- 
anon, and have been making constant approaches to- 
wards this desired haven. In these weekly marches I 
have taken my army, like Coxey did his, through slush 
and snow. But as Coxey finally ended his notorious 
march towards Washington by his arrival in the Na- 
tion's capitol, so I can now announce having at last 
reached the confines of this Queen City of our lovely 
and interesting valley, and that for to-day we have 
encamped just east of Lebanon county's capital. Whilst 
we propose to "take the city" also, it is not for any 
hearing not already gained nor for the righting of any 
wrong that I plead, except it be to arouse from its long, 
non-appreciative slumber this latter generation of noble 
Germans, to do greater honor and remember more 
kindly the bravery, industry, energy and heroic endur- 
ance, which its first American ancestors have here 
manifested. 

Having come as far as Avon, where the soaking 
rains during this week suggested shelter in side-tracked 
box-cars or in the engine and tender that here a year ago, 

(178) 



ENCAMPED NEAR LEBANON. 179 

long kept flying to and fro, like a weaver's shuttle, 
keeping the Annville and Myerstown street railway 
from crossing the P. & R. R. R. tracks, let ns from 
this camp reach out to a few historic spots lying near 
by, and take time to reflect on the stream of earnest 
activity and travel that has surged about this place even 
as the angered Quittapahilla, having its rise near by, 
has this week lashed its swollen waves over cultivated 
fields and much-travelled highways. 

Directly to the south of our halting place (Avon) lies 
the Stager homestead, which has a history of struggle 
and early peril worthy of note, and still contains an 
ancient landmark in the shape of an old house. 

The following account will be of interest : In 1746 
Frederick (?) Stager, (rather John Barnhard,) here took 
up 500 acres of land purchased from the proprietors for 
five pound sterling. He reared a small log house upon 
it, presumably the same year or the one following, 
which is still standing. It has marks of antiquity and 
interest to the curious in its outside stairway leading to 
the loft, its old-fashioned doors and quaint wrought-iron 
hinges, its fire place and its 14-inch wide oak planks for 
flooring. One of his descendants, probably his son, 
Adam Stager, in 1782 reared the large stone farm-house 
that now constitutes the farm dwelling place. It is 
large and commodious — a specimen and token of the 
growing wealth of these first families. Among the old 
deeds still preserved among the family archives, is one 
of parchment, given by 'Michael Tice and Rudolph 



i8o 



I^ANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Kelker, executors of said Adam Stacker, conveying 200 
acres of this farm to Frederick Stager. This deed was 
given June 5, 1818, and is recorded in our county courts, 
as is attested by this document in the handwriting of 
the ex-Gov. J. Andrew Shulze, who was then recorder 




I.EBA.NON VAI.r,EY FARMER. 



of the county. The original farm was thus divided and 
now is part of four farms, some of which — the western- 
most portion — is however still in the Stager name of the 
fifth or sixth generation. 

The old homestead is the possession of Mr. Joseph 
Heilman, a descendant of the Heilmans of Heilman- 
dale. This gentleman holds a relic of gold that is truly 



I 



ENCAMPED NEAR LEBANON. l8l 

worth more than its weight in that metal, inasmuch as 
he has refused a very handsome offer by some others of 
the family. It is a solid gold ring with a setting of 
some amber-colored, precious stone. This has been 
handed down from generation to generation from the 
first American ancestor of this family, Hans Adam 
(John x\dam) Heilman, who received it as pay, in lieu 
of cash, from a neighbor in about 1738 or '39 for two 
months' labor, namely, grubbing away the scrub-oak 
and alder-bushes that grew as the first crop on what is 
now a part of the paradisaical valley of the Heilmans, 
northwest of Lebanon. This Hans Adam "was a man 
of stirring energy, and he not only made his arm felt in 
the clearing of the forest, but he took a prominent part 
in the religious and social affairs, and was one of the 
founders of the old Hill Church, and an elder of the 
same as early as 1745." The first house erected by him 
is still said to stand on the premises of his great-grand- 
child in Heilmandale. He married Maria Catharine 
Stager, and this shows the connection and how the 
Stager homestead is in part in Heilman hands. These 
early Heilman ancestors are buried at the Hill church. 
The Stagers, disinterred some twelve years ago from a 
private burial plot, now sleep at Kimmerling's grave- 
yard. Mr. Joseph Heilman also found here recently an 
old copper penny bearing the image and superscription, 
not of Caesar, but of another tyrant, viz. : King George 
the Third of England. The coin has on one side the 
face of this monarch with the name "Geororius HI 



l82 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Rex ;" on the obverse a harp and crown with the date 
"1782." 

This old Stager homestead was the scene of a fierce 
skirmish between the Indians and the white settlers 
during the French and Indian war period, when one 
white man was wounded and two Indians are said to 
have been killed. 

But being detained here for a while, let us look into 
the malarious basin and checkered history of the once 
busy but now idle and defunct Union Canal, leading by 
our temporary encampment. This once enterprising 
internal state water-way has an interesting history. 
As long as the "great ditch" remains open, a relic of 
the past, the present should be concerned to keep alive 
the data of its construction and usage. 

It seems that already in 1760, by authority of the 
Provincial Assembly, a survey was made through this 
valley to construct an internal v/ater-way to connect 
Philadelphia with Pittsburg, or the Delaware with the 
Ohio. The route selected was up the Schuylkill to 
Reading, and thence by the course of the Tulpehocken 
and Swatara Creeks to Harris' Ferry, whence the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna should afford a route 
towards the western destination — a distance of 582 miles 
from Philadelphia. The Revolutionary war put an end 
to this movement. After the settlement of the struggle 
for independence by the Colonies, other States moved 
in the direction of canal building, and Pennsylvania 
was likewise stirred from its slumber on this question, 



ENCAMPED NEAR LEBANON. 1 83 

when on September 29, 1791, the legislature took action 
incorporating a company to connect the Schuylkill 
with the Susquehanna by a canal. Such men as Robert 
Morris, the financier of the Revolution, David Ritten- 
liouse, the astronomer. Dr. Wm. Smith, Provost of the 
University of Pennsylvania, and Tench Francis, were 
among its commissioners. Accordingly work was 
commenced on lands lying between Lebanon and Myers- 
town as early as the spring of 1794 — just 100 years ago. 
Had my army of explorers been halted in their march 
a century ago, where I have made them pitch their 
tents to-day, they might have seen the first shovelfuls 
of earth thrown out of the ditch that still stretches 
throughout the length of our valley. They might also 
have seen such distinguished men as those named above 
make surveys in these parts. Let us therefore step 
softly, for any spot of earth pressed by the feet of such 
men as Rittenhouse, Morris or Dr. Smith, must be to 
the historian and student of any kind regarded as holy 
ground. 

But alas ! the enterprise failed, at least temporarily. 
After the expenditure of several hundred thousands of 
dollars operations were suspended in consequence of 
public remonstrances against the powerful corporation, 
until in 181 1 this company, with another company 
known as the Chesapeake & Delaware Canal Company, 
reorganized into what became the Union Canal Com- 
pany^ which new organization pushed this old dream of 
internal State navigation into a reality. The State 



1 84 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

continued to grant aid by *'a guarantee of interest and 
a monopoly of the lottery privilege." Hence by 182 1 
operations could be continued because of financial en- 
couragement received. Six years later the project was 
completed, and in 1827 ^^^ ^"^^^ boat passed up this 
waterway, past Lebanon. This was the "Alpha of 
Tulpehocken." Not far from two millions of money 
had been expended in the construction of the canal — 
the first constructed canal in America. It is doubtless 
due to this "maritime highway" that the valley and 
county of Lebanon have attained to the wealth and 
commercial standing that characterize them to-day. 

But another highway passes our temporary quarters 
here. It is the Berks and Dauphin turnpike, along 
which we have been slowly approaching this point, and 
which was constructed even before the canal was com- 
pleted, viz. : in 1816 and 1817. It was also liberally 
aided by the State making large subscriptions to its 
stock. It is said to have cost an average of $3,800 per 
mile. Let us look into the faces of its travelers for the 
past seventy-five years. Before the day of railroads it 
w^as the one chief thoroughfare between Lebanon and 
Reading and between Lebanon and Harrisburg. It 
leads through the heart of the valley, and is known to 
have conducted in their travels such national characters 
as Presidents Van Buren in 1836, and William Henry 
Harrison in 1840, during their respective presidential 
campaigns — the former travelling east and the latter 
westward — going in opposite directions, as their politics 



ENCAMPED NEAR LEBANON. 185 

lay in opposite courses, yet both landing in the same 
White House at last. There are men still living who 
recall these campaign jaunts, and how a party of Whigs 
accompanied Harrison from Myerstown in a tally-ho 
coach, shouting themselves hoarse for old ''Tippecanoe 
and Tyler too." The same year that Harrison traveled 
over this route his Democratic Vice-Presidential oppo- 
nent (Col. Richard M. Johnson) also passed over this 
highway. His admirers made the welkin ring all along 
the route for this man, who, in the celebrated hand-to- 
hand battle with Tecumseh, had the nerve to ride up 
to the famous red-skinned chief and shoot him down 
at his horse's head, though in the terrible scrimmage 
about the dying chief he himself received severe 
wounds. 

But who shall call up the armies of great and small 
men that have been carried over the Philadelphia & 
Reading R. R. branch, stretching parallel with the pike 
throughout the length of our valley, and sweeping by 
our to-day's imaginary camping ground? What an 
array of Presidents and would-be Presidents, of Gov- 
ernors and legislators and politicians, great and small ; 
of learned doctors, and gifted ministers, and actors of 
repute, and statesmen, and base ball clubs, and excur- 
sionists, and business men, and immigrants, and visitors 
generally; what travelers for sight-seeing and for health 
and for pleasure it has swept by this spot ! Much of the 
American world has gone over this line, and many a 
foreigner, too — even the Liberty Bell preferred this 
13 



l86 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

route home from the World's Fair last year — but no 
one ever traveled through a finer countr}' or a more 
prosperous community for agricultural and honest 
thrift. Hence, having reached the acme of reflection 
and in thought capped the climax of this valley's past 
prosperity, we will break up our camp and prepare to 
march into Lebanon by another week or two. 



CHAPTER XX. 

THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 

Just midway between our camping- grounds of last 
week and the heart of the city of Lebanon, located on 
the pike, nestles the ancient village of Hebron. It was 
so named by the Moravian missionaries, who here 
founded a congregation as long as a hundred and fifty 
years ago; and the name was of course taken from 
Scripture, as this denomination, so full of the knowl- 
edge and spirit of Scripture, wove religious names and 
sentiments into their daily life in this new world, and 
especially the names of Bible localities into their settle- 
ments and congregational life. It is this very pretty 
custom of this church that has given us in eastern 
Pennsylvania such Bible-named communities as Bethle- 
hem, Nazareth, Emaus, Hebron, Bethel and Lebanon, 
and such piously-dubbed settlements as Gnadejihutten^ 
Friedens^ and so forth. 

The town of Hebron is older than Lebanon itself, and 
the first nucleus of houses here, together with its 
''^ Gemcinlein^^ (little congregation), of the United 
Brethren of the Moravians, is first of all spoken of in the 
early annals of this church as "on the Ouitopehille." 
Here quite a colony of Germans had settled before 1742, 

(.87) 



l8b LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

the year in which a hundred and twenty of the Mo- 
ravians of the Bethlehem church, just founded, resolved, 
in their glowing zeal for the Master, to divide them- 
selves into two halves, one portion of which should be 
sent forth as missionaries two by two, while the other 
half should abide and work for the former's support. 
Accordingly the province of Pennsylvania, and especi- 
ally the frontier line, where mostly the Germans had 
settled, was selected as missionary ground. These 
disciples started on their evangelistic tours with a five 
weeks' circuit before them. The result of this enter- 
prise was the establishment of their congregations at 
Lititz, Lancaster, Donegal, Bethel of Swatara, Hebron, 
"on the Quitopehille," Heidelberg, Tulpehocken, Oley, 
Emaus, Gnadenhiitten, etc. — some of which have since 
become extinct, or else reverted to the Lutherans and 
Reformed, from among which denominations most of 
these early converts were made. 

It would seem as if the names of the Apostles and 
other Bible characters had been given to these itinerant 
brethren, as we have them spoken of as Brothers John 
and Peter and Matthew and Joseph, etc., in the early 
annals of this church. It is quite likely, however, that 
they were simply known by their Christian names, in- 
asmuch as " Brothers Joseph and John" — so frequently 
mentioned in the Diary of the Hebron church, the evi- 
dent founders of this congregation — were doubtless the 
same as Brothers Joseph Powell and John Hagan, the 
missionaries, whose evangelistic tour led them to these 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 1 89 

parts. We find these same brethren a few years later 
active among the Indian mission at Shamokin (now 
Sunbnry) founded in September, 1742, by the instru- 
mentalities of such men as Count Zinzendorf, Bishop 
Boehler, Conrad Weiser (interpreter and leader), Henry 
Leinbach, and by John Martin Mack and wife, and 
Anna Nitschman. 

The preaching of these missionary brethren, doubtless 
because of its pungency and its warm breath of Gospel 
life and because of a great lack of preaching by their 
own denominational pastors of these German Lutherans 
and Reformed, caused many of the most pious and 
earnest of them to fall in with this heroic movement 
for the dissemination of the Gospel. The thought of 
proselytism or denominational propagandism did not 
enter the minds of these unsuspecting men, thirsty 
for the water of life. Hence it comes that such leading 
Lutherans as Conrad Weiser and Peter Kucher, and 
such Reformed as Heinrich Xanders and others, be- 
came early identified with this church, many of whom 
remained loyal to the church of their adoption unto 
death, while some, as Conrad Weiser, returned to their 
first love, their mother church. 

The history of the Hebron Church is a long and 
checkered one, full of interest to every student of his- 
tory. We feel confident in saying that there is not a 
congregation within the county that has a more mi- 
nutely written history than this one. The happy cus- 
tom of the Moravian Church of requesting its resident 



igo 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



pastors to keep faithfully a full diary of events trans- 
piring within the congregation, or occurring within the 
community or country at large, has here preserved a 
record of local and national events that is one of the 




THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 



richest treasures to the historian and antiquarian any- 
where to be found throughout all this valley. The 
writer was recently shown a pile of old journals — almost 
as high as the publications that confronted Luther at 
the Diet of Worms — which is simply a library of ten or 
twelve large volumes of manuscript church records and 
memorabilia of this Hebron Gememlein in the hand- 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. IQi 

writing of its successive pastors. As this churcli, 
erected in 1750, and in part still standing on property 
now owned by Mr. David Fulmer (but alas! this portion 
of a once sacred structure, hallowed alike for its associa- 
tions with church and state, is now used as a cow 
stable!) was used during the Revolutionary War as a 
place of incarceration for several hundred of Hessian 
prisoners, this diary is of intense interest during this 
period. The church was then in pastoral charge of 
Brother Bader, who is found, in the style of Caesar in 
his Commentaries, to speak of his untoward experi- 
ences at this time. He commits to the safe keeping 
of his Daily Journal^ a great many complaints and 
rhurmurings over the misbehavior of his rude prisoners 
and the none too exemplary conduct of their guards. 
Now it is their noise, then their carousals and sprees, 
that he complains of. Their filthy persons and habits 
form the occasion of still further criticisms. Again he 
has a tirade against the injustice of dumping the IvUth- 
eran Church prisoners upon him, when he was about 
getting rid of his supply. 

But there are other things besides complaints in 
these journals. They speak familiarly of the trying 
events of the war as it progressed through its eight 
years of peril and hardship. It gives us the names of 
local leaders, such as Cols. Peter Grubb and J. P. 
De Haas, and others, and the accounts of their depart- 
ure with their companies to the front of battle. It 
records the sig^nificant event of the surrender of Corn- 



192 LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

wallis, when that circumstance was first remarked 
abroad, and while, but as an unconfirmed rumor, it 
stirred all the land with intense excitement. To this 
important bit of news, this "Brother" later adds the 
significant postscript : " War wahr!^^ — '"Twas true ! " 

As the present pastor of this church, Rev. E. S. 
Hagen, of Lebanon, has recently furnished a translation 
of these important annals to the Secretary of our State 
Historical Society, Mr. Jordan, of Harrisburg, we trust 
the public will some day be able to read all these inter- 
esting data of daily events in those trying times in 
their own vernacular. It would be a noble service to 
our community if the same were given for publication 
to some of our local public prints. 

The writer w^as particularly interested in recently 
looking over this pile of ancient diaries, church-records, 
correspondence, and other ecclesiastical documents. 
One of these, an early, if not the original draft of the 
church building, gives the ground plan of this old 
edifice, which shows it to have been divided into a 
double house of a kitchen and two living rooms each, 
while the second story was the "Saal" or Prayer 
House, or ''Oratorium," as it was styled in an inscrip- 
tion we understand to have been upon its wall. 

Another record that was quite full of interest to us is 
the Communion Record, most carefully kept. The first 
volume contains those for the first 26 years of the con- 
gregation's independent life. It has the following in- 
troduction or preface, which I give in a free translation: 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. I93 

"Inasmuch as a small congreg^ation has been orofan- 
ized by means of the efforts of the United Brethren, (in- 
dependent since July, 1749), in the vicinity of Lebanon 
on the Quitopehille, in Lancaster count}^, and this con- 
gregation has been affiliated with that of Warwick until 
the close of 1749, and participated in the communions of 
that sister congregation, we resolved from the year 1750 
to begin holding separate communions with this Leba- 
non congregation. Here it has been held since 1748, in 
the Lutheran church, (where in January a Brethren's 
Synod was held) until our own church should be com- 
pleted, in which it has since been celebrated and con- 
tinued according to the following Conspectii (Record)."* 

The first celebration, therefore, held here took place 
January ist, 1750. The communicants numbered 23, 
and it was administered by Rev. Christian Ranch. The 
second communion was held March ist, 1750, and was 
administered by Bishop Frederick CammerhofF. The 
9th communion was celebrated September 22, 1751, and 
in connection with Synod, according to this record. 

This record mentions names, clerical and lay, in 
which we have become interested. The first pastors, 
beginning with 1750, were Christian Ranch, Christ. 
Herr, George Neitzer, Philip Mener, Richard Utley, 
Fred. Boehler and "Brother Bader." 

There is an interesting narrative still preserved at 
Bethlehem, giving in the form of a diary a detailed 
account of the experiences of Bishop CammerhofF in a 
visit he made to Shamokin in the winter of 1748. He 



194 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

was accompanied by Brother Joseph Powell, and the 
first day (January 6th) arrived at Macungie. Thus 
by regular stages, and at the peril of their lives, 
in the crossing of unbridged streams and trackless 
snow-covered pathways, they made their journey on 
horseback to and from their destination on the Susque- 
hanna. The diary takes account of their stoppages at 
Maxatawny, Ontelaunee, Heidelberg, Tulpehocken, 
Hebron, etc. In Tulpehocken they called on George 
Loesch and his family, who were among the Schoharie 
settlers and later immigrants to Pennsylvania, who 
united with the Moravians in 1747. The same journey 
brought the Bishop and his companion also to the 
houses of Peter Kucher and Heinrich Xander, two 
leading members of the Hebron church. The com- 
munion record shows all of these to have been faithful 
and consistent communicant members of the flock. 
The Bishop in this journey took some provisions and 
provender from these farmers to the Shamokin mission. 
Concerning the personalities of these men, we learn 
from the minute records of this church and other 
sources that George Loesch was born near Worms in 
1699. Immigrated with the Palatinates to America, and 
settled in Schoharie, N. Y., in 1710; removed thence 
to Tulpehocken in 1723, where he took up his resi- 
dence just a mile northwest of Womelsdorf, already de- 
scribed, and where the land is still in the hands of his 
descendants and some of the old buildings are still 
standingr. He became identified with the Moravian 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 195 

Church ill 1747, and remained in connection with the 
same until his death, which occurred in Nazareth, Pa., 
1790. 

Peter Kucher, or John Peter Kucher as he sometimes 
wrote liis full name, was a native of Germany, and im- 
migrated to America in 1732. He sailed in the ship 
"Loyal Judith," arriving in September of said year. 
He took up his residence just east of Lebanon. He was 
a Lutheran Christian and was connected with the Tul- 
pehocken church, as appears from the list of 166 names 
of members, who in 1743 resolved to build a second 
church and declared to build up their congregation on 
true Lutheran principles. This declaration of princi-* 
pies and list of names is still preserved (given in Dr. 
Schantz's historical address recently published in pam- 
phlet form) and contains among its signers the names 
of Peter Kucher and George Steitz, and others from 
these parts. The Moravian documents, however, show, 
in a carefully-kept register of its members, that he was 
converted to this faith in 1749, and communed with 
this Gemeinlein for the first time February 2, 1749. 
He was born according to this account in Waldau, Bran- 
denburg, in the province of Saxony. His parents were 
George Peter and Barbara Kucher. He was in religion 
a Lutheran, in profession a blacksmith and farmer, re- 
ceived into the "brethren fellowship" during brothers 
John and Joseph's "land visitation," i. ^., missionary 
tour in Heidelberg, Feb. 2, 1749, was married Oct. 6, 
1735, and had a family of ten children, whose names 
are given in order in this church record. In 1750 he 



196 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

donated sufficient land for building and burial purposes, 
so that in many respects he was a father to this Hebron 
church. The house which he built in 1761 (possibly 
the second one) we found still standing. It is a com- 
modious two-and-a-half-story stone structure (a mansion 
in those days) with wide middle hall-way and capacious, 




THE PETER KUCHER HOMESTEAD. 

easy central staircase of hard wood. Although it has 
not been occupied for some time and stands like a non- 
animated corporal, great in its weird and forsaken soli- 
tude, alongside tlie Quittapahilla and its old race- 
course just two squares north of "Sweet Home," it yet 
is a relic that is quite attractive to the student of his- 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 



197 



tory, in view of the knowledge of its once renowned 
owner, and the hospitable entertainment it fnrnished 
pastors and bishops and others. When it had life and 
sonl this now hollow and ghost-harboring bnilding 
mnst have been a home as fine as Mt. Vernon's man- 
sion. What a hubbub there must have been in it, 
when the illustrious owner of that Southern mansion, as 
the General-in-chief of the Colonial army in revolt, sent 
a quota of 270 Hessian prisoners from Princeton and 
Trenton to the sacred house of prayer, where the occu- 
pants of this house statedly worshipped! The writer 
has recently visited this old relic when he accidentally 
discovered that it was the Kucher house. Seeing the 
sandstones in the second story front, the inscription 
upon which was illegible from a position on the 
ground, he clambered up an old rickety portico, from 
the roof of which he clearly read the following: 



^^^^,o-"^im".i,„,^ 




niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii iiiiiiii iiiiii iiir 



198 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

I 00 

= 17 X / 61 



'iiiiiik 



= M.PETER = 

i KVCHER . = 

= BARBARA = 

I KVCHERIN = 

riiiiiiiiii^uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 

After my descent from this portico roof, I tried the 
front-door latch and found it open, but nothing beyond 
an echo and a weird, hollow strangeness greeted us from 
within — not even the ghost of the energetic old pioneer 
came to bid us welcome. We felt that if there was a re- 
lative of his still living, the same was committing an 
unpardonable sin for letting such a valuable prop- 
erty go to ruins, and for allowing the walls of this his- 
toric homestead, resonant with the voices and foot-falls 
of these pious ancestors, to fall into decay, when they 
should be hung with the pictures and facts that tell its 
story of piety and hospitality. 

The record of Heinrich Xander is as follows : " Born 
Nov. 16, 1702. From Rimlange, out of the Zurich 
province in Switzerland. Religion : Reformed. His 



THE HEBRON MORAVIAN CHURCH. 



199 



trade, a smith and mill-wright (Miiller-Bauer). Re- 
ceived into the church (Moravian) Whit-Monday, 1749, 
the U May, at a congregational day in Bethlehem. 
Took his first communion Oct. if, 1749, in Warwick." 
This record was made in 1755, three years after the 
change from the old style to the new style of reckoning 
dates. Hence the fractional form in dates gives both 
reckonings — the numerator being the old style, the de- 
nominator the new style. Mr. Xander lived ''five 
miles west of Kucher," according to Bishop Cammer- 
hoff''s diary. Here visiting bishops and brethren were 
generally entertained. His grave we found on the 
Moravian cemetery (Hutberg) near the old church in 
Hebron, south of the pike. The following inscription 
is found on his tombstone, lying flat upon the grave 
after the Moravian fashion: 



No. 80. 

Heinrich Xander. 

Gebohren Den i6ten 

November 1703 in 
Der Schweitz. Ver 
scHiED Den 17 Octo- 
ber 1772. Alt 69JAHR 

II MONATH. 



The graves of other leading members of this flock, 



200 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

many of whose birth dates back to the end of the seven- 
teenth or beginning of the last centnry, are found here, 
but their names and other data are fast being obliterated 
from their memorial stones by the abrasions of time and 
weather. Yet we could discern the names of Johann 
Adam Kettering, born in Alsace, Germany, in 1698; 
George Hederich, born in Zweibriicken, 1706; Catharine 
Orth, born Kucher (daughter of Peter), born January 
12, 1738; and the Buehlers, and Hains, and Bombergers, 
and Koehlers, and Graeffs, and Imhofs, and Schotts, 
and Uhlers, and others, who all sleep here their last 
sleep. But we must close this chapter. We trust it 
has stirred up a general desire soon to see much of the 
well-preserved local history kept here in print. 



CHAPTER XXL 

A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 

Every one of my readers knows, or should know, 
that Eebanon was founded by Mr. George Steitz. He 
was a German, who before 1738 (according to a deed of 
that date mentioning his name and location here) set- 
tled here along the Quittapahilla on a tract of over 365 
acres, covering the old part of the city, for which he 
received a patent from the Proprietaries of the province, 
dated May 22, 1753. Though there probably had been 
some town lots sold before Steitz laid out a part of his 
farm into building lots about the year 1750, this "lay- 
ing out of the town" and sale of lots was the begin- 
ning of Lebanon. The enterprising German gave his 
town the beautiful Scripture name it now bears, possi- 
bly borrowed from or suggested by his Moravian breth- 
ren, whose Scriptural nomenclature stamped itself upon 
several of the townships of this county. It is more 
likely, however, that the township had been changed 
from Quittapahilla to Lebanon before the Moravians lo- 
cated here, and that the town's name was suggested by 
that of the township. Be that as it may, it is certain 
that, in spite of this naming, for a long time the village 
was known by the name of its founder, and that for 
14 (201) 



202 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

half a century after its beginning, the surrounding 
community did its shopping and frolicking and horse- 
racing and fighting in " Steitze-town." 

We want to-day to take a walk around this old b2irg 
and see its outlying homes and other landmarks that 
guarded the old place before ever this century was born, 
or the village of Steitz had grown into the since enter- 
prising maiden city of Lebanon. After this historic 
circumnavigation, we trust the walls, like those of 
Jericho, will fall, or the gates open, to let my army of 
explorers enter and behold the treasures of historic 
wealth buried within. 

Having in my last letter led my readers to peep into 
the Peter Kucher house, who must have been Steitz' s 
nearest eastern neighbor, we will go northward from 
here and surround the place by constant turns to our 
left. The old town-plots show John Light (Licht) to 
have owned the land north of Kucher, or east and north 
of the present city limits. We presume that the origi- 
nal deed of this property finds the name of Casper 
Wister, "the brass-button maker of Philadelphia," to 
have been the "party of the first part," inasmuch as it 
is known that he had first taken up from the Proprie- 
taries the land immediately north of the Quittapahilla, 
the land that long separated Steitztown from North 
Lebanon, which latter village, at the opening of the 
Union Canal, rivaled its southern neighbor in business 
thrift and growth, and for some time bade fair to excel 
it in its strides towards a municipality. It seems not 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 203 

yet to have forgiven its rival for stealing the march on 
it, inasmuch as it prefers to remain "independent," 
though the growing ^^ Steitse^^ has stretched itself in 
well-graded streets, lined with homes, to its very doors. 
Whether John L^ight had a house east of the city, or 
whether there were two John Light homesteads on the 
confines of this town, the writer cannot tell. He 
knows of the old Light home, northwest of town, and 
will presently lead his readers thither. But it would 
seem that one family of Lights had resided east of our 
city, as the old family burial-plot is found here, which 
seems more distant than was common from the house, 
if indeed the "Light Fort" was the first and only 
Light homestead.* At all events, it is in the eastern 
portion of the farm where the Lights buried their dead. 
The family plot is found between Weidman and Leh- 
man streets, east of Third, near to or part of what used 
to be the old Fair Grounds. It is, however, stripped 
of every vestige of fence or ornamentation. Only a 
number of old gravestones, several of them broken, 
mark the sepulture of this pious ancestry of our large 
family of Lights. The question has come up to the 
writer, whether these ancestors have deserved nothing 
better at the hands of their present generation of pros- 
perous descendants, than to be treated with the gross 
neglect and forgetfulness apparent in these neglected 

*Tlie author has recently learned that there was another Light 
homestead, east of Lebanon, last the property of Felix Light, a de- 
scendant, before it was replaced by the Penn'a Bolt and Nut Works 



204 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

graves. Surely some simple mark of respect is due the 
memory of these early pioneers, who paved the way to 
the success and prosperity a later generation is reaping. 
A little blooming shrubbery were more becoming than 
a heap of rocks and debris ; an enclosure of paling more 
fitting than a "commons" of stumps, and a few flowers 
on Decoration Day more appropriate than a decoration 
of cast-away tin cans and other rubbish by the desecrat- 
ing neigrhbors. Oh ! when will all men learn that 
veneration and self-respect that shows itself in keeping- 
green the graves of the beloved dead, and step softly 
over the mouldering bones of their ancestors ? Oh ! 
when will Lebanon, as a municipality, gain authority 
enough to prevent the theft and vandalism that discour- 
ages such suggested improvements that would other- 
wise oft be prompted by grateful hearts ! * 

Our visit discovered here half a dozen barely leg- 
ibly inscribed tombstones. A few of them are broken 
off and defaced. It is a wonder anything is left of them 
after a century's exposure to time, weather and vandal- 

^ Scarcely had the above wish found a voice in this weekly corres- 
pondence before one of many descendants of these Light ancestors, a 
faithful and venerating scion, Mr. Asaph S. Light, editor of the Leb- 
anon Couj^i'er, and the present postmaster of Lebanon, instituted 
measures to have the mouldering bones of these ancestors taken up 
from these uninviting surroundings and reverentl}' reinterred in the 
Bbenezer cemeter}^, about a mile to the northwest of town . Hence a 
week after this chapter was originally written this old burial plot 
was no more. 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 



205 



ism. The following are fac-similes of a few, in which 
of the spelling and doubling letters and figures are pecu- 
liar, the latter indicated by a horizontal line over the 
letter to be doubled. The first is of red sandstone, 
others limestone or marble : 



.»»oi*«'"""""»«,„, 



"n, 



ji.„„......»»»*'* """0„uuni^ 

z Hier Ruhet E 

= Johannes Liclit, ift ge- = 

z boliren den 6 december z 

z 1720. Er ift eiu Sohn des z 

E Johannes und Maria E 

E Licht, ist gestorbeu E 

E 6ten abril 1798. fein E 

E alder war 7 Jahr E 

E 4 monat. = 



niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 



V/\/V'V*'\/\/V1 



t'VW^'V'Vvrwrv/wrv^rw- 



inder Bhe 48 Jahr 

II Monat. Gebohren 

1 1 Kinder Wo von 

noch 9 am leben 6 Sohne 

3 Tochter. Gestorben 

4 May 1798 Ihr 

alter war 67 Jahr 

lat 3 W^' 

2 Tage. 



206 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Hier Rubet im tod 

lOHANNES LICHT 

Er war gebohreu im lahr 

1726 den 2iten Febr. Lebte 

mit seiner frav Anna inder 

Eh. 48 lahr 11 Monat. Zevgte 

II Kinder Wovon noch 9 

Leben 6 Sohn v. 3 tochter 

Starb den 11 ten Martz 1806 

1st alt worden 80 lahr 

2 woche & 3 Tage. 

Liebe die Mich wird erwecken 
Avs dem grab der sterblichkeit 
Liebe die mich wird bedecken 
Mit der Kron der herlichkeit 
Liebe dir ergeb ich mich 
Dein zu bleiben ewiglich. 



There is another stone, with an epitaph to the mem- 
ory of still another y"*?///?;/ Licht^ born 29th of December, 
1767, died loth of January, 1814. The relationship is 
very likely that of son to the Johannes LicJit of stones 
No. 3 and No. 2, who, from the agreement in length of 
married life and the number of children, must have 
been man and wife. The one of stone No. i must 
have been a brother of same name or, possibly a 
cousin to the one of No. 3. Did one live east of town 
near this burial plot and the other northwest of town ? 
The writer can not tell, only in the early history of 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 



207 



Steitztown the land east and north of the borous^h was 
marked as the farm of John Light. We know that one 
of these lived a little west of the corner of Tenth and 
Maple streets, where the old hip-roofed stone fort, con- 
stituting his abode, and erected in 1742, is still stand- 
ing-. We shall otq to see it now. 




THK JOHN LIGHT INDIAN FORT. 

On our way to this landmark, however, let us take a 
peep into the old Lutheran parochial school-house, 
which formerly stood at the northeast corner of the 
Salem Lutheran cemetery, on Eighth street, until 
about fifty years ago. Its use having been displaced by 
the public school system, it was removed hither by a 



2o8 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Mr. John Harris, who turned it into a dwelling house. 
It is a log building, now weather-boarded and slightly 
changed. It is the present property of Mr. Charles 
Swope, and is located on Canal street, alongside of the 
stone quarry at the east end, and is at present unoccu- 
pied. The rear door — double, like a shutter — is the 
same that gave entrance and exit to the young Luth- 
eran urchins of seventy-five years ago. It bears the 
marks of their jack-knives to this very day. If it could 
speak, what a story of woe and hardship it doubtless 
could relate, as one generation after another of young 
Germans were there graduated in their ^ '§5 @'5, 
Psalters, Catechisms, and hickory birches. 

But we repair to the Light Fort. Few of our citizens 
may know or remember that there is such an historic 
landmark so near. It is hid away from sight by other 
buildings as you go out Tenth street. You want to turn 
west on Maple at this point, and then it will soon appear 
to view, just across the canal to the south. In 1738, 
"the brass-button maker " sold to John Light several 
hundred acres of land, who erected upon it, in 1742, the 
stone dwelling and fortification here alluded to. It is 
the best specimen near town of the style of roofing 
adopted in those days for larger buildings. The custom 
is Hollandish, and the style of roof generally termed the 
Dutch hipped- or broken-roof. This is quite a massive 
structure, and has a checkered history of refuge from 
the savages, of the worship of God, of domestic toil and 
struggle, and of liquor distilling. 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 209 

The first owner, Mr. Liglit, was a Mennonite in re- 
ligion, who opened his house for religious services, and 
it was so employed once a month for a long period. 
This community must have abounded with Mennonites 
in that early day, as quite a congregation is said to have 
assembled here. But the house was also built as a forti- 
fication against the Indian savages. It is provided with 
a deep, arched cellar, into which subterranean refuge a 
flight of stone steps still leads the way from the inside. 
Hither the neighbors were often compelled to repair, to 
find shelter from their enraged, insatiable foes. Sixty 
families took refuge in it at one time. Because of these 
retreats for safety, it received the name it has borne ever 
since, that of "Old Fort." We recently visited the 
building, but found the older part of the house rifled 
and deserted by all except a flock of English sparrows, 
a saucy-looking goat, and a family of colored folks, the 
last of whom occupy a few dreary-looking rooms. The 
writer has strong suspicions that during the best days of 
canal navigation this building w^as used as a warehouse. 

The attacks made upon the whites by the Indians 
remind us of a record made in the Hebron Diary con- 
cerning a cruel murder of one of that flock, which 
occurred in Bethel, May, 1757. The mangled body 
was brought to Hebron for burial, and had we then 
stood where I have led my army of explorers in this 
chapter, in the north of town, we might have seen the 
funeral procession, a large throng, pass this place on 
their way to burial. The following record is preserved 



2IO LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

in the church annals of the Hebron Moravians : "May 
the i6th, 1757, John Spittler, Jr., was attacked and 
killed by murderous Indians, not far from his house at 
the Swatara. He was in the 38th year of his age, and 
settled the preceding year, in April, at the Swatara. 
His greatly mangled corpse was brought hither on the 
17th of May, and accompanied by a large concourse of 
people, was buried here on our graveyard." Mr. 
Spittler w^as son-in-law to Mr. Jacob Meylin, whose 
relatives are still abounding in the county. 

But we must hasten on and complete our circumfer- 
ence of the old town. Of course, we are only after the 
ancient, and are going in imagination "in ye olden 
time." Hence we have no trouble with cinder-banks 
and furnaces and canal-ditches and planing-mills and 
engirdling railroads; we can just take our walk across 
John Light's meadow and some grassy fields, past 
the fine old farm houses of Martin and Barbara Funck 
(who now sleep, side by side with his parents, in a pri- 
vate burial-plot near by, within an environment of cin- 
der banks, stone quarries, smoking furnaces and puffing 
engines, he born Dec. 22, 1766, and died Feb. 17, 1838; 
she born Dec. 10, 1773, and died Jan. 15, 1853; while 
his parents' tombs show Martin Funck, Sr. , to have 
been born Jan'y 30, 1732, and died Dec. 19, 1796, and 
his wife, Judith Funckin, to have been born Jan'y 19, 
1732 and died March 4, 1812) still standing, the one 
erected in 1810, and the other in 1824. Soon after pass- 
ing these landmarks we cross the Ouittapahilla on the 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 211 

west of town, to where George Gloninger's old home 
has long kept its watch on this stream — which historic 
homestead we shall visit at length in a later trip — and 
from here wheel to the south and be ready to take a 
glance at the spot where, before the middle of the last 
century, was already found a church in common use by 
the lyUtherans and Reformed — known as the "Grubben 
Church." This spot is about two miles south of the 
town-center, on property owned by Mr. Jacob Brubaker. 
But we have not time to abide here, where Revs. Con- 
rad Templeman and J. Casper Stoever first dispensed 
the Holy Gospel of the Son of God to their pioneer 
flocks of German Reformed and Lutherans respectively. 
We must bring our march to a close, and prepare by 
another intermission of a week's rest and waiting to en- 
ter the city from the same direction the rebels invaded 
our Keystone state in 1863 and 1864 — from the south. 
We prefer to enter the old town of Steitz from this di- 
rection, along the Cornwall pike — once a plank road — 
because from this point of the compass and along this 
celebrated and well-kept highway came the man who, 
more than any other one man, changed Steitztown into 
Lebanon — Mr. Robert H. Coleman. We will close this 
chapter by quoting a poem that was written and read by 
one of our most gifted and energetic citizens at a ban- 
quet, given some years since in honor of this second 
builder of our city, who did more for Lebanon in pro- 
moting its second growth than George Steitz ever did 
in laying its foundations: 



212 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

LEBANON : PAST AND PRESENT. 

* BY J. H. R. 

There was a German gentleman whose name was Yorick Steitz, 
He came across the ocean from a canton in the Schweitz ; 
'Tis many years ago, you know, a hundred years and more, 
Since this old German gentleman first landed on our shore. 
He came with pluck and energy, with brains and money, too, 
Just as the immigrants those times were always wont to do. 
'Twas ere the foreign governments, to get rid of their scamps. 
Dumped ou our shores their anarchists, their nihilists and tramps. 
For if they then had sent such scum across the raging main. 
We'd hanged them higher than a kite or sent them back again. 
He traveled inland from the sea, and when he reached this spot, 
'Twas here that he resolved to stay, at which we wonder not, 
For the valley stretched before him and the brooks went murm'- 

ring by, 
'Twas charming to the senses, and most pleasing to the eye ; 
And here he founded Lebanon, since grown to some renown. 
But his neighbors, out of jealousy, called it old Steitz's town, 
A name it bore for many years, two score of years or so. 
Till Time, at length, with ruthless hand, laid Steitz's neighbors low. 
And as it was to good George Steitz, so 'tis to us to-day, 
A place not to remove from, but one in which to stay. 
He builded better than he knew, for north, hid in the hills, 
Lay coal to feed our furnace fires, our forges and our mills. 
While southward rose an iron mount, awaiting, as v/e've seen, 
The magic touch of master hand and sight of vision keen. 
Between these mounts of coal and iron stretched valley, hill and 

wood, 
A fertile land on which to raise the grain to give us food. 
Here, too, were raised, as well you know, brave men of brawn and 

brain. 
Who marched with Washington and Greene, with Lafayette and 

Wayne. 



A WALK ABOUT STEITZTOWN. 213 

In eighteen twelve, and later still, in time of direst need, 

They fought with Grant in Richmond's front, at Gettysburg with 

Meade. 
But time moved on and changes came; the town it grew, of course, 
And Peter Kahl's old stage gave way to Reading's iron horse. 
We had our shops and factories and churches, schools and scholars, 
Our stores were lit with gas at night, our bank-vaults filled with 

dollars. 
So thus in peace we moved along, content to have it known. 
That every decade showed our town had somewhat larger grown. 
But suddenly there came a change, as if magician's hand 
Had touched the town, and upward sprang new buildings tall and 

grand. 
But I must not prolong this tale, and yet I fain would tell 
How Colebrook furnaces came first, and then the C. & L.; « 

How then the business boom came on, and how we got our freights, 
From north and south, from ea.st and west, at low competing rates. 
And then came forges, bolt works, mills, whose fires are burning 

bright. 
Bank buildings and the new depot, and then the electric light. 
And yet we'll name Mt. Gretna Park in Conewago's hills. 
With pleasant paths and cooling shade, its lake and rippling rills. 
And so where once a village stood when good George Steitz held 

sway, 
A modern city upward rose and proudly stands to-day. 
For this we've met in Banquet Hall — friends, you know all the rest. 
How much is due to him who is to night our Honored Guest. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 

As we have decided to enter Steitz's town from the 
south, we wnll come in on the old plank road of the 
Colemans, whose last and illustrious scion, Robert H., 
has turned the sleepy village into a bustling city, and 
the rickety old highway of planks into a well-graded 
pike. This brings us into town on what is now Tenth 
street, and accordingly the first ancient landmark that 
meets our eye is the old Tabor church and school house. 
It is what is generally known as the First Reformed 
Church of our city — or, as a stone in its wall would in- 
dicate, the " Hoch Deutsche Reformirte Kirche. " The 
present building was erected in 1792, and the school- 
house, it is believed, about thirty-six years previous to 
that date. From a succinct history of the church pub- 
lished two years ago by its present pastor, Dr. Klopp, 
we are enabled to cull many important data of its long, 
historic and beneficent life. 

This declares the congregation to have been organ- 
ized in 1760. The first deed, indentured June 10, 1760, 
whereby George Stites conveys to Frederick Steindorf, 
Felix Miller and Jacob Sollinger, "Deacons of the 
Dutch Presbyterian Church," and in trust for said 

(214) 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 215 

Clmrcli, the greater portion of the ground lying east 
of the present church and constituting the old burial 
ground, is still extant. It cost the original sum of five 
shillings and the 3'early rent of "one Red Rose in the 
Month of JtLiie forever, if lawfully demanded." How 
often this yearly rental has been paid since, the writer 
can not tell. As the date has just passed (loth of June), 
it is possible that the congregation feels it has dis- 
charged its debt after having brought loads of roses 
and other flowers to church in its annual Children's 
Day Festival, celebrated last Sabbath — the anniversary 
of this legal agreement. It might prove a worthy task, 
but more difficult than last Sunday's service, to find' 
the grave of this generous promoter of "true religion 
and piety" and deck it year by year with these choice 
blossoms of June. This seems to be an unknown spot. 
It is believed that he rests near his offspring and 
relatives in Salem Lutheran graveyard. The writer 
found the tomb of Mrs. Samuel Stites (Anna) in the 
Womelsdorf graveyard, but knows not whether her 
husband was a relative of George or not. This lady 
was born March 3, 181 7, and died March 28, 1846. A 
similar requirement of the yearly rental of one red rose 
binds also the Salem Lutheran Church of our city to 
Mr. Steitz, and the Zion Lutheran Church, of Man- 
heim, to the quaint Colonial founder and benefactor of 
that town. Baron H. W. Stiegel. This last-named 
flock celebrated last Sabbath the yearly Festival of 
Roses, amid a jubilee of song and addresses, and in the 



2l6 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

presence of relatives and lineal descendants from Ger- 
many, Virginia, New York, and Harrisburg. They 
are raising a fund to place memorial chimes in their 
spire in honor of this kindly and long enterprising, at 
last impoverished Baron. 

Whatever generosity George Steitz may have mani- 
fested towards the early religious denominations of his 
day and town, it would seem as if the sheriff of the 
county a few years later seized his property, including 
this donated portion of his farm or town plot, consisting 
of lot numbered 136, and sold it, inasmuch as vv^e find 
this same Reformed Church lot was sold by the sheriff 
and re-purchased by said congregation but three years 
after its very considerate sale by Steitz. At this time 
John Hay was sheriff of the county (Lancaster), and 
the purchasers of the tract, including these church lots, 
were Rev. John Casper Stoever, Christopher Wegman, 
Philip Greenawalt, Casper Schnebele, George Hock, 
Christian Gish, and John Ulrich Schnebele. These 
again sold in 1765 the church lots (upon which a log 
church had already been erected in 1762, situated on 
the northeast corner of the old graveyard,) to John 
Huber, John Rohrer, Jacob Smith, and Abraham Wide- 
man, in trust for the "German Presbyterian Church." 
They paid five pounds in their second purchase to get 
back their improved property. This second transfer 
was made August 5, 1765. 

Before the establishment of this church, the Re- 
formed of this community worshiped for a generation 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 217 

at the Hill church, northwest of Lebanon, and at the 
"Grubben" or " Kruppen " church. The log house 
in which Rev. Conrad Templeman, the earliest pastor 
of these Reformed churches, lived, is still standing at 
Templeman's Hill, a mile east of Cornwall. It is in a 
dilapidated condition, and was found empty and for- 
saken by the writer in a recent visit thither. The asso- 
ciations of this energetic and faithful man of God, who 
spent the latter years of his life here in total blindness 
and suffering, w^hile yet often ministering to his flock 
in holy things, should arouse an interest to keep this 
landmark from total decay. 

According to an account of the event preserved by 
the Moravian pastor in the Hebron Diary, the first Re- 
formed church was dedicated 0:1 the i8th of July, 1762. 
The name of Tabor was given it, evidently from the 
Mt. Tabor of Scripture. In this building the congrega- 
tion worshiped regularly until June 12th, 1792, when 
the present stone edifice was erected. There was an 
interim of several years between the razing of the old 
church and the completion of the new, when the right 
of worship in their church edifice was kindly accorded 
this flock by the Salem Lutherans. 

Improvements to the property have constantly been 
made since the beginning. In 1772 the church lots 
were enclosed by a dry stone wall, at a nominal expense 
of about $130, because of the very reasonable rates of 
labor and material at that day. On March 8, 1780, an 
adjoining property — the lot on which the present church 
15 



2l8 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 




MT. TABOR REFORMED CHURCH AND CEMETERY, I.EBANON, PA. 



stands, and on which was then already standino^ the 
stone house, now used as a sexton's house, but for many 
years as a congregational or parochial school-house — 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 219 

was bought of Philip Greenawalt and wife, for the sum 
of thirty pounds, or about $146. When this purchase 
was made, Gottfried Bichelbrener, Michael Krebs and 
Rudolph Kelker were the trustees. In the deed trans- 
ferring this property, the school is mentioned, which 
was built some twenty years previous to this date, and 
is still here as a witness to the value set upon instruc- 
tion by our early German ancestors. A parsonage was 
purchased by a committee representing the different 
congregations constituting this pastorate at that day, 
viz., the Lebanon, Hill and Jonestown churches. They 
were Gottfried Bichelbrener, Nicholas Weiss, Jacob 
Lausher,' Henry Dubs, John Tetweiler and John 
Bickel. This house stood many years on the site of the 
present handsome parsonage, corner of Chestnut and 
Spring streets. Formerly the services were all in Ger- 
man, and preaching but once in two weeks. Since 
1828 English preaching has been regularly continued, 
though in constantly increasing proportions, until at 
present the German is limited to two Sabbath mornings 
a month. 

The present building was erected in 1792-96. It was 
originally about 42x62 feet in dimensions. The corner- 
stone was laid June 26, 1792, under Rev. Ludwig 
Lupp's pastorate, when the Rev. William Hendel 
preached a sermon from Gen. xxviii. 12. The building 
committee consisted of Philip Greenawalt, John Glon- 
inger, Anthony Kelker, Gottfried .P^ichelbrener, George 
Bowman, and Martin Imhoff. 



220 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

An interesting Children's Service was held in con- 
nection with the laying of the corner-stone bnt a day or 
two previons, showing that such a thing as "Children's 
Day" in our churches is no new thing, and that 
Bishop Vincent, of the Methodist Church, can not boast 
being the founder of this now popular novelty. The 
fact is, all the good things in the Church of to-day 
are found in their prime and purity in the German 
Reformation churches, and were rocked into life by 
the Protestant Reformation of Luther, Melanchthon, 
Zwingli, Calvin, and others. From an old hymn or 
programme of exercises used on this occasion, over a 
hundred years ago, still extant, and a copy of which is 
in the hands of the Hon. Rudolph Kelker, of Harris- 
burg, whose grandfather was then Treasurer of this 
church, it would appear that they far excelled much of 
the modern namby-pamby stuff dished up with flowers 
and singing canaries on our " Children's Days." 

The church was dedicated May 8th, 1796. We can- 
not account for the length of time consumed in build- 
ing this structure, except, like the grinding of some 
sleepy mills situated along shallow and well-nigh dried 
up streams, the propelling powder did not flow in faster. 
But the character of the structure does not suggest 
poverty. It is known to have cost about $6,500, and 
has upon it superior workmanship. There has been 
some extra expenditure to make it churchly in appear- 
ance. Over the windows of the west side, facing Tenth 
street, appropriate Scripture passages have been en- 
graven. Beginning at the north they read as follows : 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 221 

1st. " Lasset tins ihn lieben denn Er hat uns zuerst geliebet." — 
I John 4 : 19. 

2d. "Der verniinftige Mensch lernet Gottes Wort gern, und wer 
die Weisheit lieb hat horet gern." 

3d. " Dieser Eckstein dieser Kirche ist gelegt worden, den 26ten 
Juni 1792. 

" Herr lass deine Augen ofFen sein ueber dieses Haus Tag und 
Nacht. Hoere das Gebet deines Volkes." — II Chron. 6: 20-21. 

4th. "Das Gesetz deines Mundes ist mir lieber denn viel Tausend 
stiick Gold und Silber." — Ps. 119: 72. 

5th. "Thut Busze und glaubet an das Evangelium." — Mark i : 15. 

At its dedication Revs. Becker, Pauli and Hendel 

officiated. But even still after a new church was se- 

« 

cured, improvements were continued. In 1809 a pipe 
organ was purchased, at a cost of $1,500. The present 
wall surrounding the graveyard was built in 1816 ; the 
steeple erected in 1827, ^^^ P^^^ of ^^^ cemetery, oppo- 
site the church, on Tenth street, bought in 1847, with 
an additional part in 1848. The entire church was re- 
modeled in 1844 at considerable expense, when the 
vestibule end at the north was. added. In 1845 the 
church was incorporated, in which charter the follow- 
ing persons are named as Trustees, viz. : Jacob Arndt, 
Ivconhard Greenawalt, Christopher Reigert, Philip 
Shaak, Sr., and John W. Gloninger ; and the docu- 
ment is signed by Governor F. R. Shunk and by 
Speakers William P. Wilcox of the Senate, and Find- 
ley Patterson of the House. At the ratification meet- 
ing of the congregation, accepting this charter, held 
May 24, 1845, ^ number of important resolutions were 



222 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

adopted, relative to the spiritual care, the temporary 
support and the nurture of the youth of the church. 
The pew system was then adopted at English services, 
and other provisions pertaining to burial rights adopted. 
In 1857, John W. Gloninger and wife conveyed a lot of 
ground for burial purpo-^es, situated west of town along 
the pike. 

In i860, sixty-eight members were dismissed to found 
St. John's Reformed Church of this city, of which the 
Rev. Dr. Henry Harbaugh, the celebrated author and 
Pennsylvania German poet, was first pastor. 

In 1864, the Reformed Lebanon Classis, convened at 
Annville, divided and changed the pastorates in this 
community so as to constitute the Tabor Church in a 
separate pastoral charge. This necessitated the pay- 
ment of $600.00 to the Hill Church for its interest in 
the parsonage, which was at once accomplished, the 
collections being over this amount, leaving the church 
treasury a handsome surplus of $206.76 from this effort. 
In 1869, the pastor's salary was fixed at $1,200.00 per 
annum. In 1872, the Lecture Room of the church was 
changed and Tabor Chapel built, which was enlarged 
and altered in 1890, thus adding an Infant Room and 
Pastor's Bible Class Room. 

In 1877, at the establishment of St. Paul's Reformed 
Church of Bismarck, this church again lent a willing 
hand, and at its regular organization dismissed no less 
than eighty-six members from her fold. Another child 
coming out of the bosom of this mother church is the 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 223 

St. Mark's Reformed Church, in the northern part of 
the city. It came to organized life in 1887, which 
again cost 166 of the living stones of the old church, 
and quite a number besides since that date. Temple- 
man's Chapel, at Cornwall, cost the mother church 
another thirty of her members. Thus it is seen what a 
blessed "mother" this First or Tabor Church has been, 
and how she lives in her children, into whose youthful 
energies she poured of her best blood. Though vener- 
able with hoary years and many deeds of beneficence, 
she is still bearing fruit in her old age, and strong 
enough to vie with any of her younger sisters or 
daughters in the work for God and humanity. She is 
well equipped with officers and working societies, and is 
one of the strongest churches in numbers and activities 
of this city. The handsome parsonage, which in 1890 
took the place of the old historic manse on the corner 
of Spring and Chestnut streets, is a model of beauty 
and modern domestic convenience, and is alike a credit 
to the congregation and its pastor, under whom it was 
built, and a proof that this "mother" is not as yet 
going into decrepitude or decline. May she long live 
to bless mankind, and breathe among our younger 
churches and generations of citizens the earnest and 
godly spirit of her pious and sainted founders and earli- 
est promoters! 

The following pastors have served her: 

After the pioneer services, preparatory to the found- 
ing of Reformed churches in this vicinity by Rev. Con- 



224 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

rad Templeman, from 1727 to 1760, this local church 
was served by 

Rev. Frederick Miller, from 1762 to 1763. 

Rev, William Stoy, from 1763 to 1768. 

Rev. John Conrad Bucher, from 1768 to 1780. 

Rev. John William Runkle, from 1780 to 1784. 

Rev. Andrew Lorentz, supplied from 1785 to 1786. 

Rev. Ludwig Lupp, from 1786 to 1798. 

Rev. William Hiester, from 1800 to 1828. 

Rev. Henry Kroh, from 1828 to 1835. 

Rev. Henry Wagner, from 1835 to 1851. 

Rev. F. W. Kremer, D. D., from 185 1 to 1889. 

Rev. D. E. Klopp, D. D., from 1889 to date. 

From the Tabor News we learn that the following^ 
persons constitute the present 

CHURCH OFFICERS. 

Pastor— Rev. D. Earnest Klopp, D. D. 

Elders— B. F. Gingrich, William H. Boyer, William F. Spayd, Wil- 
liam M. Snyder, J. Adam Becker, J. H. Witenmoyer. 

Deacons— Frank Z. Miller, J. V. Smith, F. E. Bomberger, D. O. 
Mader, John A. Kleiser, Alvin H. Royer, Edward Brandt, George M. 
Snyder. 

Trustees — Andrew J. Meredith, John H. Michael, Joseph L. Lem- 
berger, Daniel P. Witmeyer, Jacob Brubaker. 

Treasurer — William D, Ranch. 

SUNDAY-SCHOOI. ORGANIZATION. 

Superintendent — ^Joseph L. Lemberger. 

Assistant Superintendents — Dr. E. P. Kremer, Miss Annie Matthes. 

Secretary— Daniel G. Miller. 

Assistant Secretary — ^John Shank. 

Treasurer — Jacob B. Karch. 

Librarian — Jacob B. Karch. 



TABOR REFORMED CHURCH. 225 

Assistant Librarians — Daniel M. Sharp, Frank Gleim, John Shank. 
Teacher of Adult Bible Class— Dr. E. P. Kremer. 
Organist — Walter Garrett. 

Jimior Department. 

Superintendent — William F. Spayd. 

Assistant Superintendents — William M. Snyder, Miss Savilla Wit- 
meyer. 

Secretaries or Librarians — Mrs. Jennie Shaak, Mrs. D. G. Miller, 
Miss Millie Gleim. 

Chorister— Mrs. D. G. Miller. 

Organist — Miss Nora Light. 

Infant Department. 
Teachers— Miss Ella Ebur and Mrs C. G. Rauch. 
Assistants — Miss Sallie Schrani and Miss Gertie Reigel. « 

In the next chapter we shall stroll into the adjoining 
graveyards, and here come face to face with a large 
number of Lebanon's past worthies in the sacred and 
in secular callings. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 

Before leaving the ancient shrine of Lebanon's first 
Reformed worshippers, let ns spend an hour in com- 
pany with the noble men and women who have been 
"gathered unto their fathers," and sleep their last long 
sleep in the shadow of the very church in which they 
worshiped and taught, or were taught, the way to 
heaven. The ancient burial ground that lies to the 
east of this historic church, contains the sacred ashes of 
not a few of Lebanon's most distinguished citizens of 
" ye olden time." In fact, this and Salem's Lutheran 
burial grounds contain almost all the dead of the first 
six or eight decades of this city's life. The Hebron 
Moravian cemetery contains a few, but its dead are 
mostly from the outlying country. The Reformed 
hold in sacred keeping a generous share of the ancient 
dead, and they keep their trust faithfully by looking 
well to the proper order of this last resting place of 
their dead. 

June, the month of roses and robins — when every 
bush of the former glows with hundreds of bursting 
buds of beauty and fragrance, and every nest of the 
latter is ready to hold commencement-day and send 

(226) 



FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 227 

forth from its seminary of young bird-life its full-fledged 
trio of red-breasted songsters — what a month of beauty 
and bloom, of flowers and fragrance, of life and love! 
Just the month in which to visit a graveyard! The 
chirp of the sparrow, the sweet song of the robin and 
the thrush, and the exciting chatter of a score of swal- 
lows, which, as evening approaches, take their winged 
chariot races through the air — each racer urging on his 
feathery steed with noisy ado — combine their notes and 
noises to overcome the otherwise painful silence of a 
lonely burial ground. And so the waving grasses, and 
the blooming and budding life on every shrub, help to 
mellow the otherwise too sombre consciousness of being 
in the presence of decay and death. Moreover, these 
natural evidences of life and beauty serve as a token 
and type of the land of reunion with the sainted dead, 
where are found perpetual bloom and eternal life. 

It was on a perfect day of this maiden month of sum- 
mer that the writer, pushing away the tall grasses, 
wended his way from grave to grave of the past 
worthies that sleep in this Reformed "city of the 
dead," and with reverent heart and by the aid of well- 
worn epitaph, communed with the generations that 
have passed. Here he found the graves of Pastor Lupp 
and his wife, during whose energetic ministry the pres- 
ent stone church edifice was erected in 1792-6. He 
learned elsewhere that this man of God was a native 
of Germany, and that for a while after coming to 
this country he taught school, and conducted devo- 



228 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

tional services in private houses, before assuming the 
duties of the ministry. He had served a charge in and 
surrounding Manheim, and was instrumental in found- 
ing the first Reformed church at Harrisburg, before 
removing to Lebanon, where he busily pursued the 
labors of his holy office, in season and out of season, 
for a period of about twelve years. That he was gen- 
erally beloved is evidenced from the fact that the 
lyUtheran pastor. Rev. Mr. Kurtz, assisted the Rev. 
William Hendel, of the Reformed Church, in the 
funeral services, by preaching a second sermon, and by 
the witness of the Moravian Hebron Diary, whose 
pastor records various instances of fraternal intercourse 
with him. Describing one of Rev. Lupp's confirma- 
tion and communion services, which said pastor at- 
tended by invitation, he adds: "There was at these 
solemn services, which continued six hours, a general 
loud weeping in the church, and the young hearts were 
quite carried away." He was doubtless the author of 
the responsive service which the children of this parish 
.rendered on the dedication day of the church, to which 
allusion has already been made, and which is a model for 
propriety and churchliness. It is a service in which the 
leader, the children and the choir respectively take part, 
and the program is entitled : " Zum Knsebchen Fest." 
Pastor IvUpp was buried here in this delightful month of 
June, almost a century ago, according to the following 
humble marker that still distinguishes his grave : 



FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 229 

,„....."•■•"•"""•"•••.....„..„ 
, *V ruhet em grauer ffaup/ ,_ 

i LUDWIG LUPP, i 

5 12 Jahr Prediger in Libanon S 

= Gebohren den 7 Januar, 1733 5 

= Gestorben den 28 Juni, 1798 E 

= Alt 65 Jahr, 5 Mon. 21 Tagen. = 

i Es war mein Beruf und Amt in deiser Welt = 
E Zu lehren was meinem Gott und Jesu wohlge- E 
= fallt. = 

E Zu predigen das Evengelium rein und treu E 
E Den Siindern rufen zur Bus und Reu ; = 

E Nun adieu ! Fruende, folget meiner Lehr und E 
E Wort = 

E So werden wir einander wieder sehn in jenerE 
= Himmelspfort ! E 

niiiiiiiiiMiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 

Not far away sleeps his wife and companion, with a 
similar sandstone marker. 

We find here the grave also of even an earlier pastor, 
and one who must have been beloved by his flock with 
extraordinary affection. It is the Rev. Johann Conrad 
Bucher, serving this flock an equally long period of a 
dozen years, beginning with 1768. He was a noted 
man in his day for his service both in the Church and 
State. Born in Switzerland, his father, intending him 
for the ministry, gave him a thorough academic educa- 
tion at the Universities of St. Gall, Basle, and Goet- 
tingen, where he gathered into an autograph album, 
still extant, the autographs of his celebrated teachers, 
Wagelin, Zollikoffer, J. L. Mosheim, the great church 



230 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

historian, and others. At the age of twenty-five he 
came to America. He was soon enlisted into the con- 
flict that was being waged between the English Colonies 
and the combined forces of French and Indians. Par- 
liament, after the defeat of Braddock and the subse- 
qnent 3^ear of disaster, passed an "act providing for the 
appointment of German, Swiss and Dutch Protestants 
as officers," in order to enlist the greater sympathy of 
these classes of immigrants to the English cause. Ac- 
cordingly, Bucher was appointed as Second Lieutenant 
in the P^'irst Battalion, Pennsylvania Regiment, and 
after the fall of Fort Du Quesne, he rose to First Lieu- 
tenant, April 19, 1760, and was stationed at Fort 
Louther (Carlisle) to defend the frontier against Indian 
raids. He participated in Bouquet's expedition in 1763 
for the relief of Fort Pitt, which had been assailed in 
Pontiac's Conspiracy, in which march the famous battle 
of Bushy Run was fought. Mr. Bucher was gradually 
promoted for his brave services, until he rose to a Cap- 
taincy in Colonel John Penn's Regiment. 

In 1765 he again participated in an expedition against 
the incursive Ohio Indians under General Bouquet, 
when the celebrated capture was made of the captive 
white men, women and children these enemies had in 
former years carried off; among whom was the noted 
Regina Hartman, who sleeps in one of the "God's 
acres" of our valley. While on their return from this 
expedition, and while encamped at F'ort Bedford, an 
association was formed by the officers of these Pennsyl- 



FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 23 1 

vania Regiments to ask the Proprietaries to make a 
new purchase of land from the Indians and grant to 
each of them a reasonably large and commodious tract 
as a plantation. Their efforts succeeded, and thus there 
was ceded to Captain Bucher, in 1769, no less than 616 
acres in the Buffalo Valley (Union county), and 570 
acres in the Bald Eagle Valley (Center county). Feb- 
ruary 26, 1760, Lieutenant Bucher married Mary Mag- 
delena, daughter of George Hoak, of York, and three 
sons survived him to perpetuate his name and fame in 
Dauphin and Huntingdon counties. During 1765-68 
he resided at Carlisle and began the service of the Re- 
formed Church as minister, officiating in churches at* 
Falling Spring, Hagerstown, Sharpsborough, Fred- 
erickstown, Middletown, Hummelstown, Quittapahilla, 
and Lebanon, as well as Carlisle. In 1768 he accepted 
a call from Lebanon, and removed hither in the spring 
of 1769, his field extending over large parts of what are 
now Lebanon and Lancaster counties. Such exposures 
and trying services, however, tell on any constitution. 
The strain was too much for the soldier-priest, Bucher, 
and he succumbed to heart-disease on the 15th of 
August, 1780, while officiating at a marriage ceremony 
in the family of one Killinger, on the Quittapahilla, 
near Millerstown (now Annville). So esteemed was he 
that; though a hearse was awaiting to carry his body 
back to Lebanon, his friends would not consent to it, 
but carried the dead pastor on their shoulders to his 
home — a distance of five miles. He lies buried among 



232 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

the honored and loving flock he shepherded so faith- 
fully. A sandstone marks his tomb, with the following 
inscription : 



^"""^'''' ©^#!44 """"uuu^ 



5 Hier ruhet im Tod der Leib = 

I CONRAD BUCHER § 

5 Prediger 12 Jahr iu Libanon = 

= Gebohren D. 10 Juny 1730 = 

= Mit seiner Ehe frau Magdelena = 

= lebte 20 Jahr. Zeigte 8 Kinder = 

= 4 sein iu die ewigkeit voran = 

E gegangen. Gestorben D. 15 Aug. = 

= 1780. Seines Ruhen vollen = 

= Alters 50 Jahr 2 Mon. 5 Tag, § 

n iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiil Illiiiiiii Ililiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiir 

One might here find enough material for somber 
reverie and meditation. The grave of a learned scholar, 
a brave and honored soldier and a beloved pastor! Yet 
here he sleeps in a bed as humble as the lowliest. 
Truly 

" The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power, 
And all that beauty, all that wealth, e'er gave. 
Await alike the inevitable hour ; 
The paths of glory lead but to the grave." 

Two other pastors of this flock lie buried on these 
Reformed graveyards, old and new. In the old, near 
the church, is the tomb of Rev. William Hiester. A 
large flat stone marks his resting place, which is in- 
scribed as follows : 



FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 



233 



Zum Audeiiken 

des 

EHRW. WILHELM HIESTER 

Prediger 28 Jahr in 

Libanon uiid den umliegen- 

den Reformirten Gemeinden. 

Gebohren den 

II November 1770 

Zeugte II Kinder 7 Sohne 

und 4 Tochter. 

Starb den 8ten Feby 1828 

Alt 57 Jahr 2 Monath 

und 28 Tage. 

[Here follows a long rhythmic appeal 
to the flock to be faithful and meet their 
pastor on high.] 



The Hebron Diary has many complimentary things 
to say of him also. Rev. William Hendel preached his 
funeral sermon, February 11, from the text, Dent, 
xxi. 16. 

In the new cemetery, opposite the church, on Tenth 
street, a beautiful monument marks the restiuQ: place of 
the congregation's pastor who gave it the longest unin- 
terrupted term of service (a little over 38 years) of any 
of her many shepherds, viz.. Rev. Dr. F. W. Kremer. 
From all accounts he was an ideal pastor, much be- 
loved by his people. He had but one other charge be- 
sides — that of Grindstone Hill, near Chambersburg, Pa. 
16 



234 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



''While conducting the funeral cortege of Mrs. Samuel 
Heilman to the Hill church, he was suddenly translated 
to his reward in heaven, on the morning of June 14, 
1889, his horse and carriage being struck by a fast ex- 
press on the Lebanon Valley R. R. at a crossing near 
the Hill church. . . His name and life have found 
lasting place in the hearts of those who so long enjoyed 
his faithful ministry." The following epitaph tells the 
brief story of his services and death : 




Pastor of First Reformed Church 
from April i, 1851, to the day of 
his death, June 14, 1889. 
Killed by a railroad train while 
on his way to the burial of one 
of his members. 

AGED 
72 Years, 6 Months, 28 Days. 

And he 7vas not, for God took hiin. 



/' 



'\ 



Besides these pastors, these ancient graveyards con- 



FACK TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 235 

tain the sacred ashes also of Mrs. Rev. Stoy, Mrs. Rev. 
Hiester, Mrs. Rev. H. Wagner and Mrs. Rev. Kremer. 
Rev. Philip Gloninger, a Reformed minister, also sleeps 
here amid the large family of kin, but we shall have oc- 
casion to refer to this rather illustrious old family in an- 
other chapter, and therefore omit further allusion here. 
Other notable graves are those of the Eckerts, Marks, 
Heisters, Hubers, Pfeiffers, Dr. John B. Mish's, Karchs, 
Moores, Elliotts, a long row of Greenawalt graves, in 
some of which sleep Revolutionary sires ; the Kelkers, 
including that of Anthony, treasurer of the church 
when the present edifice was erected ; and the Gottfried , 
Eichelberner of that day, and Esq. [Peter Lineaweaver 
and wife, and many others. We think we found also 
the long-lost grave of George Steitz, the founder of this 
city and donor of this church lot. Now we would not 
be guilty of putting the bones of even such an old 
worthy as Steitz into another man's grave. We read in 
Scripture that such an hasty and promiscuous burial 
once took place, where the body of a certain dead man 
came in contact with the bones of the buried Prophet 
Elisha, and it had the effect of stirring the newly- 
extinct body into life and new animation. We neither 
care to produce a sensation nor to call back any 
one that has passed from life, but we have strong sus- 
picions that by some amateur "Old Mortality" the 
tomb of George Steitz has been made to read George 
Stein. I will offer my argument, and let the curious 
either prove or disprove the same. In the center of 



236 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

this old burial ground, east of the church, is an old- 
fashioned tombstone, north of a fenced-in lot, on which 
is found a considerable amount of artistic ornamenta- 
tion. It shows the marks of the sculptor's chisel since 
originally placed — evidently to retrace a part of the in- 
scription that was becoming indistinct. It left half of 
this epitaph intact, because still legible, but found the 
stone so hardened and coarse-grained as to make it im- 
possible to engrave the fine text of the other half that 
was fading, and so the vanishing phraseology was capi- 
talized. Thus what now reads "Zum Andenken des 
George STEIN " was certainly at first "Stein" if not 
"Steitz" with the "tz" so faded that this employed 
artist of a few decades ago guessed the surname of one 
more common. This is the theory. The partial alter- 
ation, with the other half untouched, becomes at once 
evident to any one visiting the spot. The dates of 
birth and death seem to be "1717" and "1787" re- 
spectively, but are almost faded. We invite the curious 
to examine the case for themselves, and let every 
''Stein" of this community or elsewhere, having here 
buried an old ancestor, now speak, or the coming Steitz 
monument might be by mistake here erected over the 
remains of the wrong man. 

There is but one more grave that we shall visit, and 
then take a reluctant leave from a charming spot and 
an interesting old companionship. This is the grave of 
Mr. Curtis Grubb. By his side sleeps his son, who 
died when a youth of seventeen, and two large flat 



FACE TO FACE WITH PAST WORTHIES. 237 

stones, lying side by side, mark their resting places. 
Mr. Grubb was a brother of Captain Peter Grubb, who 
figured prominently in Revolutionary times. He had 
charge of the Cornwall Furnace, which was then cast- 
ing cannon for the Colonial armies. Curtis was equally 
enthusiastic for liberty, and exerted himself for its pro- 
motion at home, while his brother gave his energies to 
the cause in the field. Thus we find him creating 
sentiment among his neighbors, serving on various 
committees, and taking a leading part in this com- 
munity for liberty. It is said that he, with his family, 
were regular attendants of this church, though living 
in the Cornwall Hills. The following epitaph records 
his life and demise : 



In Memory of 

CURTIS GRUBB, ESOR., 

of Cornwall Furnace. 

Who departed this Life 

the Twenty- second Day of 

January, One Thousand 

Seven Hundred and Eighty - 

nine. 

Aged Fifty-eight Years. 



Stop Wanderer, 
Come, learn how vain this life below, 

How swift thy days pass by, 
More swift than any stream they flow 

On to Eternity. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 

We turn away to-day from the lovely and ancient 
^^God^s-acres^^ of the Reformed, where peacefully sleep 
so many of Lebanon's past worthies, and from the 
church they built and in which several generations 
have worshiped, where we have spent our time in the 
past two outings, to visit the similarly historic house of 
God and old graveyard of the Lutherans at the corner 
of Eighth and Willow streets. But this walk leads us 
across the Central or Market Square of our city, and so 
we must make a halt here before going on, and mingle, 
in this chapter, with the living rather than the dead. For 
here there is no resemblance to the place we last visited 
and the one we are next bound for. This is a scene of 
stirring life, and few that move about this center of our 
city every day do ever think that they are only a few 
blocks from the cemetery — that the distance from busy 
life to tranquil death is so short, that from noon to 
evening is but a brief span, that Central Square lies so 
near Cemetery block. But we will not look too gloomily 
upon this stirring scene, and w^ill therefore shake off for 
to-day the grave-clothes from our spirits. We are be- 
tween two cemeteries ; but we are now in neither. We 

(238) 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 239 

are in Lebanon's Market Square. Only it is a square 
without the market — "Hamlet" with Hamlet left out. 

" Es wser ken leichte Sach zu mir 

Wans Marik-House muesst dort week, 
Mei Herzt bsengt dra, as wie 'n Klett 
Es macht niich krauk, ich muss ins Bett ! 

Ich sclilupp micli in 'u Eck ! 
O move sell Marik-Haus nimmermehr 
Eweck fon sellem Ccnter-Schqiiare ! 

■X- * -St * * 

"Sel Schquare war g'macht for'n Marik-Haus nei, 
Der William Pcnn hot's g'sad, 
Er hot die Insching g'frogd dafor — 
Sie hens gQg7'a)it foreverniore, * 

Un 's muss ah nau dort sei : 
Was wser's dan for 'n Marik-Haus Schquare, 
Wan's net for sel alt Marik-Haus wser ? " 

But, alas ! Even William Penn, George Steitz, and 
H. L. Fisher, the York poet, combined, could not keep 
the old ^^Marik Haiis^'' in the Lebanon Square. It 
had to go with the other relics of the olden time before 
the march of improvement which was ushered in when 
the second growth came to Lebanon, about a dozen 
years ago. But most of my readers will' recollect the 
old market sheds. Some of the oldest of them will re- 
member the Fourth of July morning when old Dr. 
Lineaweaver's gig graced the roof, though the Doctor 
had carefully locked his shed the preceding night to 
prevent the patriotism of the young iVmericans of that 
day from manifesting itself in such and other similar 



240 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



demonstrations. And while it stood, on either side of 
Cumberland street, what fine specimens of Lebanon 
county produce, in men and maidens, in cheese and 
cabbages, in radishes and red-beets, in sausages and 
sauer-kraut, it presented once or twice a week ! Since 
men live on country produce and settle into aggrega- 




CENTRAIv SQUARE, LEBANON, PA. 



tions of towns and cities, market places have been a 
necessity and they have always given the world true 
phases of life. 

But we are not here with provision basket in hand 
to make purchases. We have come with the chron- 
icler's pencil to take a few notes of the historic land- 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 



241 



marks, in the shape of old homes that still surround 
this market-square of Steitz's town-plan. Coming from 
the south, we begin with the first old house that faces 
it on the west corner, and find it a pre-Revolutionary 




MARKET SQUARE, LEBANON, PA. 

(Looking South.) 

Showing Filbert's Store, The Mish House, and "American House" in the distance 

at offset. 



relic. It is now a public hostelry and known as the 
American House. Its fine stone front elevation still 
bears two stones which tell much of the story of its 
erection. The inscriptions of religious sentiment, fol- 



242 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



lowing a custom of certain German provinces, here 
read as follows : 



GOTT . SEGENK . DISKS 

HAUS . UND . ALI^KS . WAS 

DA . GEHT . EIN . UND . AUS 

CASPAR & SAWINA 

SCHNEBEI^Y . A O . 1 77 1. 



MAURER y^ X IN LEBANON 







T' 



1771 




As far as we know the house has a good name. We 
can speak from personal experience that it sets a good 
table, but we have a strong suspicion that some other 
spirit than the one invoked in this date-stone has some- 
times "blessed" some who "here go in and out," since 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 243 

the private residence has been changed into a public 
house, with license for the sale of "fire-water." It is 
now the property of Mrs. Kleiser, and the stopping- 
place of the country mail coaches. In 1855 it was the 
property of Dr. John W. Gloninger, who added a third 
story to it. 

From here, past a few business houses, whose his- 
tories are a checkered story of transfers, we come to the 
stuccoed and yellow-painted stone house of Mr. John 
W. Mish. This is another old property, the main part 
of it having been built, as near as can be remembered, 
and as a stone in the wall, but under the plaster, says, 
in 1762. It is the old Krause house, built, it is be- 
lieved, by John Krause, the great-grandfather of Mrs. 
Mish, who was a daughter of a younger John Krause, 
who was the son of David Krause, who was the son of 
John, Sr., who was married to a daughter of Adam Orth 
(Regina), whose wife in turn was a daughter of Peter 
Kucher. All the connections here are prominent, the 
Kuchers, Orths, Krauses on Mrs. Mish's side, and the 
Mishes and Weidmans and Bickels, of the county, mix- 
ing their blood in Mr. Mish's veins. Their family of 
children promises fairly to carry the name and honor of 
a worthy ancestry into the time and generations com- 
ing, into whatever clime or country they may chance to 
wander. The house is large and commodious. It has 
served various purposes. In the beginning of this cen- 
tury it was a hotel or restaurant. There is still an old 
inside shutter swinging in the northern room which 



244 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

records the bill of 12 segars against ex-President James 
Buchanan as due Andrew Huber, and having been pur- 
chased on a Sunday, September 15. We know this 
noted character, when an aspiring young lawyer, used 
to practice at Lebanon county courts. During Mr. David 
Krause's occupancy, and at the first establishment of 
the county, the main front room of this house was used 
by him as Prothonotary's office. This Mr. Krause was 
born in this township in 1750, and was a farmer by 
occupation. In the back yard of this old mansion 
there used to be a large Swiss barn, where were 
stored the products of a portion of the original Peter 
Kucher's large farm, into the possession of which he 
came by the marriage of Regina Orth, the grand- 
daughter of this celebrated Moravian leader. Part of 
the same farm is still in possession of the family, and 
improved by the lovely country residence of Mr. Mish, 
just a mile south of the town center, and at present 
occupied by their son Robert. The Revolutionary war 
spirit fired the blood of young Krause, and, leaving his 
farm in other hands, he associated himself with those 
striking for the cause of freedom from a foreign yoke, 
and became conspicuous as a commanding officer of a 
local company, and as Commissary in Colonel Greena- 
walt's Battalion. 

Among the many family relics still kept here is Com- 
missary Krause's Book of Accounts, in which are found 
his receipts and expenditures as a Governmental officer. 
Among other entries, the writer was interested to find 
the followinof : 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 245 

"Augnst, 27, 1777. Cash paid to Coin. Adam Orth, 
for 3 corts of wood, to be delivered to the Hessian pris- 
oners, at 12 sh. a cort. " 

There is found here also Mr. Kranse's Docket as Jus- 
tice of the Peace, which is most carefully kept. It 
shows that on one occasion he imposed the fine of 7 
shillings and 2 pence upon a certain man for swearing. 
We have thought if every similar offense were now fol- 
lowed by the same penalty, Lebanon would soon have a 
revenue that would be able to bring us the best street 
paving, a sufincient number of electric lights, and an 
adequate supply of the best water. 

After the Revolutionary War, Mr. Krause served in 
the State Assembly from this county (then Dauphin) 
before and after the adoption of the State Constitution, 
in 1790. For two years he served this county also as a 
Commissioner. After the establishment of the county 
of Lebanon^ Governor Snyder appointed him one of the 
Associate Judges of the county, which position he held 
at the time of his death, in 1822. His sons, born here, 
added honor to the name — the youngest, David, gaining 
a very fair reputation as Private Secretary of Governor 
Shulze, Deputy Attorney General of his county, as- 
sociate editor with General Simon Cameron of the 
Pennsylvania Intelligencer^ editor of State Joni'nal^ and 
as Judge of the Montgomery and Bucks Judicial Dis- 
trict, while John, father of Mrs. Mish, served as At- 
torney General of Pennsylvania. The present head of 
this old homestead, Mr. Mish, is well known for his 



246 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

business ability, having served in important positions 
and filling now the office of Secretary and Treasurer of 
the lycbanon Gas Company. 

Next we come to the corner building, at present 
(1894) undergoing extensive improvements, in being 
changed in form and purposes from an ordinary corner 
store-stand into the imposing wholesale liquor house of 
Mr. Filbert. This house also is historic. It is the cele- 
brated Philip Greenawalt's old home, or rather the site 
is the same; for when Colonel Greenawalt lived here the 
building was a double-story frame hostelry, which was 
later changed into a store and occupied by Mr. Frantz, 
from whose hands it passed into Jefferson Sherk's and 
thence into Mr. Diller's and now into Mr. Filbert's. 
But as we are walking in the olden time, we see none 
of these later changes and only note the brave and 
doughty old Colonel as he goes in and out here, loaded 
down with honors and a multiplicity of years. A native 
of Germany, he came to America in 1749 and located 
iirst in what is now Lancaster county, but later came to 
this side of the South Mountain ridge. At the outbreak 
of the Revolution, he was commissioned Colonel of the 
first battalion of Lancaster county. He was associated 
with Washington in the New Jersey campaign of 1776 
at Trenton and Princeton, and at the Brandywine he 
received the commendation of his commander-in-chief 
for efficiency of service. He was appointed by his state 
as one of the commissioners to take subscriptions for the 
continental loan, December 16, 1777, and during the 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 247 

war's darkest period lie did noble service in collecting 
food, forage and clothing for the suffering soldiers at 
Valley Forge, for most of which he is said never to have 
been recompensed. His regiment was composed of local 
companies, commanded by such then well-known cap- 
tains as (i) Casper Stoever, (2) William Paine, (3) Philip 
Weiser, (4) George Null, (5) Michael Holderbaum, (6) 
Leonard Immel, (7) Valentine Shoufler, (8) Henry 
Schaefifer, (9) Daniel Oldenbruck. These names often 
occur in local history. Colonel Greenav/alt died in this 
place, in 1802, at the good old age of ']^ years, highly 
honored and respected by his fellow citizens. He sleeps 
in the old Reformed cemetery, and around him have 
been gathered many of the scions of his large family. 

But we must go on. Crossing Cumberland street, we 
come to the Gloninoer homestead — for several o-enera- 
tions past the property of this distinguished medical 
family. Although none but Gloningers have gone in 
and out of this fine old habitation as occupants for the 
century that is past, still the building was not erected 
by any of them, but according to deeds in hand — and 
the family hold a chest full of these parchment docu- 
ments, and many precious heirlooms besides — was built 
by Gen. J. Philip DeHaas. The original sale of this 
corner town-lot, by Steitz, was made to this historic 
character shortly after the town was laid out, and the 
character of the house to be erected upon it was 
specified in the deed. So it is from this corner that 
this Revolutionary warrior went forth, and to this 



248 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

identical house that he came back as his home. 
Arriving in this country with his father, from Holland, 
in the year 1739, as a mere child, they settled near this 
place. He had already given conspicuous service to his 
adopted country in the French and Indian war. He 
shared in the officers' land-grants along the West 
Branch of the Susquehanna at the close of this period, 
upon which lands in Clinton and Center counties his 
descendants settled and are still abounding. For ten 
years — 1765-1775 — he was one of the King's justices of 
the peace, residing in this house. There are some very 
interesting resolutions extant, which were adopted at a 
meeting of the citizens of Lebanon after the arbitrary 
measures of the Crown, closing the port in Boston, as 
early in the Revolutionary agitation as June, 1774, 
which resolutions bear his name as chairman, and 
which meeting was held in the house of Captain 
Greenawalt. The following are the resolutions as 
copied from Dr. Egle's history: 

"At a meeting of the inhabitants of Lebanon and the adjoining 
townships on Saturday, 25th of June, 1774, holden at the house of 
Capt. Greenawalt, whereof Major John Philip DeHaas was chairman, 
to take into serious consideration the state of public affairs, it was 
unanimously declared and resolved: 

1. That the late act of the British parliament, by which the port of 
Boston is shut up, is an act oppressive to the people of that cit}^ and 
subversive of the rights of the inhabitants of America. 

2. That while we profess to be loyal subjects of Great Britain, we 
shall not submit to unjust and iniquitous laws, as we are not slaves, 
but freemen. 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 249 

3. That we are in favor of a Congress of Deputies, who shall act in 
behalf of the people for obtaining a redress of grievances. 

4. That we will unite with the inhabitants of other portions of our 
Country in such measures as will preserve to us our rights and our 
Liberties. 

5. That our countrymen of the cit}^ of Boston have our sincerest 
sympathy, that their cause is the common cause of America. 

6. That Messrs. Philip Greenawalt, Thomas Clark, Michael Ley, 
Killian Long and Curtis Grubb be a committee to collect contribu- 
tions for our suffering brethren. 

J. P. DeHAAS, Chainnan. 
John Light, Sea-ctary:'' 

This document shows what spirit of patriotism heaved 
the bosoms of these gallant citizens, most of them of 
German ancestry, against whom the false charge has 
sometimes been made that they were indifferent to 
the cause of freedom, or totally lacking in patriotism. 
The Revolution formally opening, we find DeHaas, 
speedily chosen colonel by Congress to command the 
First Pennsylvania Battalion. He set the gunsmiths of 
Lebanon to work to make the muskets for his regiment 
His battalion merged into the Second Penn'a Batallion 
after his Canada campaign in 1776, which he hence 
forth commanded, until he was promoted to a brigadier 
generalship, in which capacity he served until 1779 
That year he removed to Philadelphia, where he died 
in June, 1786, "leaving his property here to his wife 
Elenor, and son, John Philip, as the executors of his es 
tate." And thus this house came to be purchased by 
the Gloningers, who have held it ever since. 

Btit reserving for another chapter the history of this 
17 



250 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

family, when we reach the original homestead of the 
first Gloninger immigrant on the banks of the Quittapa- 
hilla, we will pass on to the next homestead, commonly 
known as the " Weidman Honse," but now owned and 
occupied by Dr. Joseph L. Lemberger and family. 

This house is a model of preservation, and well shows 
the character of the old kind of masonry. The date of 
erection is not quite certain; some claim it to have been 
built by the DeHaas heirs, and that it is more than a 
century old. It was long occupied by Edward Godwin, 
Ksq., a native of England, and for a long period a lead- 
ing legal light of this towni. He was the associate of 
such prominent attorneys of our state as James Bu- 
chanan, Jenkins, Montgomery, etc., of Lancaster, and 
the Elders, Fosters, Auricks, etc., of Dauphin counties, 
who often must have stepped across the threshold of 
this historic house. Then it became the residence of 
Mr. J. Andreas Shultze, and was occupied by him when 
elected to the gubernatorial office of our state. From 
Governor Shultze it passed into the hands of "Gen. 
John Weidman, and because of which fact it is often 
called the Weidman house." From Weidman it came Jl 
into possession of Mr. Joseph L. Eemberger, whose ~ 
family now occupies the mansion, with one room re- 
served for the prosecution of the well-known Central 
Square drug business. The house is still good enough 
to shelter another governor, but whether it shall occur, 
will depend on the present occupant or his successors. 
We have no objections to have it take place now. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE, CONTINUED. 

Our walk about the old Market Square of Lebanon 
was interrupted just as we came to the fine stone 
mansion of Mr. Lemberger's, whence stepped out, in 
1823, Andreas Shultze, to fill the Gubernatorial chair 
of our State, after having held a number of other official 
positions of the county and the State. It would be' 
pleasant to dwell a little while in company with this 
cultured and popular Governor of our State, whose elec- 
tion to a second term of this high office, in 1826, was 
unprecedented in point of majority, he receiving not 
much less lh?.n 75,000 votes, while his opponent, John 
Sergeant, received but about 1,000 votes. But we must 
hasten on, so as to complete our walk about this old 
town square, which is lined with historic landmarks, 
leaving the relatives of the Governor in the enjoyment 
of the honor reflected upon them by this illustrious kin. 

Before leaving, however, the residence whose historic 
walls are still lighted up by the brilliant fame of this 
once renowned owner and occupant, we must recall, 
with a certain degree of patriotic and race pride, at this 
season of Independence Day reminders of Revolutionary 
sires and leaders, that when that illustrious French 

(251) 



252 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

patriot and ally of our American colonists struggling for 
freedom — General Lafayette — revisited our country in 
1824-25, it was this same Governor Shultze who 
officially welcomed him to Pennsylvania State soil amid 
great pomp and civic display, at Morrisville, on the 
west bank of the Delaware, opposite Trenton, N. J. It 
should stir our present citizens with local pride at this 
Fourth of July season, that in a parsonage of this valley 
was born the child (the great-grandson of the most 
distinguished German pioneer of this State — Conrad 
Weiser), who in this valle}^ grew to manhood, here for 
a time preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ, then fol- 
lowed here a mercantile business, afterwards holding 
offices of public trust and honor, and later marched out 
of this identical stone mansion to fill the highest office 
in the gift of our Commonwealth, and as such had the 
honor to ride in that brilliant pageant of State officials, 
of mounted field and staff officers, of bands of music, of 
processions of artillery and infantry, of Revolutionary 
heroes, of artisans and farmers, of gaily dressed 
riflemen, in which he - the son of our valley and the 
distinguished citizen of our own Lebanon town — was 
the State's representative and spokesman. Riding in a 
barouche drawn by four brown horses, he followed 
next the distinguished visitor — Lafayette^who, with 
the famous Judge Richard Peters, of the Revolution, 
the friend of Washington, was drawn by six cream- 
colored horses, with outriders in livery, mounted on 
horses of the same color — and was followed by another 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 253 

barouche similar to his, containing Governor William- 
son, of New Jersey — on that proud day in September 
(28), 1824, more than seventy years ago, when this 
magnificent pageant came from Trenton and entered 
our City of Brotherly Love by the Delaware. 

But we are far from home and must hasten back, and 




CENTRAIv OR MARKET SQUARE, LEBANON, PA. 
(Looking North.) 
Showing the Gloninger Residence, the " Weidman House," etc. 



must complete our historic pilgrimage about Lebanon's 
old square, even if attended by less of pageantry and 
honor than was so largely shared by one of its quondam 
residents. The house next north of this "Guberna- 
torial Mansion" is the present property of Grant Weid- 



254 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

man, Esq., who purchased it from William Stoever, of 
West Myerstown — a lineal descendant of Rev. Johann 
Casper Stoever — who, as executor of his father Jacob's 
estate, made the transfer about twenty-five or thirty 
years ao^o. Jacob Stoever here carried on the printing 
business, and from this place shone forth over the terri- 
tory of the county, at least once a week, for about thirty 
years, the first and long the only newspaper enlightener 
of the place — Der Libanon Morgen-Steni. Jacob 
Stoever was a son of Frederick Stoever, the squire, and 
he was the youngest son of pastor J. Casper Stoever. 
Who had possession of this property before Stoever, we 
could not learn; but the place suffers not by comparison 
with others in reckoning up the good influences that 
have gone out thence. The Stoevers and Weidmans 
both being Lutherans, the early members of these 
families all sleep in Salem Lutheran burial ground. 
The property next north to this, situated on the S. 
W. corner of 9th and Spring alley, and now occupied 
by offices and as the residence of Mr. J. K. Funck, was 
first sold by George Steitz to Anastasius Uhler, March 
4th, 1759. There are documents showing that it was 
again conveyed by said Uhler to Daniel Strow, who con- 
veyed it to Andrew Beistle, at whose death and accord- 
ing to the terms of his last will, Messrs. Christopher 
Wegman and Jacob Souders, as executors, sold and 
transferred the property August 17, 1782, to Henry 
Shaffner. The lot then had a frontage of sixty-four feet 
on Market Square. The northern half of same, with 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 255 

house, was conveyed, at Mr. ShafFner's demise, by Jacob 
Goodhart and Daniel Stitchter, executors, to Mr. Adam 
Grittinger, June 16, 1837, which same property was be- 
queathed by Mr. Grittinger to his son, Henry C., the 
present owner. The Shaffners we know to have been 
inter-married with the Greenawalts and otherwise 
highly reputed, while the Grittingers, father and son, 
served in various honorable positions, " as well as the 
present occupant, to give this place a history. 

Opposite Spring alley, on the site of the building 
now occupied on the first floor by the Post Office, where 
cluster other interesting facts of history, let us especi- 
ally imagine the former frame building out of which 
came to play or go to school in the early decades of 
this century the boy Alexander Ramsey, whither his 
mother, whose maiden name was Kelker, on becoming a 
widow removed with her family from Hummelstown. 
Mr. Ramsey as man rose from one station of honor to 
another, until he became in 1849 ^^^^ Territorial Gov- 
ernor of Minnesota, holding office four years, and mak- 
ino^ important Indian treaties, and for the United States 
Government negotiating large purchases of their lands. 
Mayor of St. Paul in 1855, and elected Governor of the 
State in 1860-63, ^^^ was the latter year elected United 
States Senator from Minnesota and served twelve years, 
and in 1879 became Secretary of War, and in 1882 a 
member of the Utah Commission. 

Were we to continue our walk on Ninth street to the 
north we should find much more buried history to ex- 



256 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

hume, but we shall simply lead our excursionists about 
the old Market square, and so must here step across 
Ninth street to the east side and complete our walk. 
The building that here at present forms the northern 
offset of this square is the second structure of the Zion 
Evangelical Lutheran church, which just has com- 
pleted the semi-centennial of its life, an event worthy 
of note. The -first building erected here in 1844 
was a stone edifice and rough cast in plaster. 
The lot before this date was the property of Jacob 
Shaffner, then residing at Marietta, and the purchase of 
it was made by Jacob Stoever, one of the trustees, for 
the newly organized congregation coming out of the 
mother church (Salem) and led by the pastor, Rev. 
Jonathan Ruthrauff, on the score of language, church 
discipline and revival measures. The spot has an in- 
teresting history, because of its fifty years of eloquent 
preaching of the gospel by such men as Rev. Ruthrauff, 
Drs. Wedekind, Gotwald, Schindler, Rhodes, Reinmund 
and Dunbar ; by the long and successful efforts here 
made in the salvation of souls; by the men it sent into 
the ministry ; and by a long list of conventions held of 
every description, missionary, Sunday-school, confer- 
ence, synodical and General Synodic, of which we have 
not time to speak at length. 

We come next, on the south, to a property now 
occupied by three stores (tea, jewelry, and shoe) pre- 
senting a frontage of about 66 feet, and mentioned in 
the original town-plot as Lot No. 65. The property 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 257 

is owned by Mr. Frank S. Becker, and has been in the 
family since 1810, when his grandfather, Jacob Good- 
hart, the clock-inaker — whose name rivals that of Jacob 
Gorgas, in the number of times it appears on the face of 
the old time, high corner-clocks — purchased the ground 
with the improvement of a log house, weather-boarded, 
for the sum of 426 pounds, "lawful money of Pennsyl- 
vania," from John and Catharine Fasnacht, who were 
the executors of their father's (Conrad) estate. This 
Conrad Fasnacht was a butcher, and evidently here 
carried on his business of sellino- if not of slaus^hterine. 
Deeds are at hand to show that this property was part 
of the original town-plot, purchased at sheriff's sale as 
property of Nicholas Henicke, by Peter Kucher, 
August 5, 1764, who sold and conveyed it, April i, 
1774, to Adam Orth and Catharine, his wife, (Kuchcr's 
daughter) who in turn conveyed same to John Keller, 
October 22, 1785 (whose wife was a daughter of Adam 
Orth), who again sold it, May 4, 1792, to said Conrad 
Fasnacht. Probably the most noted occupant of the 
old homestead that first occupied this central spot, of 
whose residence here we are certain, is the long-lived 
clock-maker, Mr. Goodhart. On the establishment of 
Lebanon county, we find him representing this district 
for several years (181 5-1 6) in the State Legislature. 
Upon the acceptable creation of the borough of Leb- 
anon, in 182 1, he was elected as the first Chief Burgess, 
which office he held for two years. He also served as 
County Treasurer from 1826-29; was universally recog- 



258 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

nized as a reliable surveyor, conveyancer and scrivener ; 
and was for more than thirty years a Justice of the 
Peace, many times elected by the people and twice ap- 
pointed by the Governor for usual terms of several years 
each. We find his name also amono^ the first trustees 
of the Lebanon Academy, established in 1826. But 
whatever good may have been done by Mr. Goodhart in 
all these official positions, we think that his "grand- 
father-clocks" will do more to perpetuate the fame of 
his honest thrift and skill, in the hundreds of homes 
they are to-day brightening, measuring off by musical 
ticks the minutes, and by clearly ringing strokes the 
hours of the day, than by any other great deeds this 
long familiar German worthy of Market Square per- 
formed. 

The next house — a relic of the last century — is the 
property of our nonagenarian friend Mr. Simeon Guil- 
ford. It was part of the John Keller estate when the 
above-mentioned transfers of the next adjoining lot 
were made. It is very likely that in this same house — 
still standing and occupied by Mr. Guilford, Sr. — lived 
Mr. Keller, the saddler, at the beginning of this cen- 
tury, and we can imagine his children — playing here 
with their cousins, among whom was the future illus- 
trious statesmen of Indiana — a native of Lebanon — 
Godlove S. Orth, wdio died but twelve years ago, after 
having held many of the most important offices in the 
gift of his country and adopted state. Mr. Guilford, the 
present aged occupant, is a native of Northampton, Mass. , 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 259 

and came to town at the opening of the Union Canal in 
1823 — ^'^ enero^etic, yonthfnl civil engineer of twenty- 
two. The same State improvement or institution 
brought to town also another once honored citizen, Mr. 
William Lehman, who lived a year in Gov. Shultze's 
house after the latter was made Governor, and later at 
the Canal (Ninth and Maple). These, together with 
the president of the Canal Company (Mr. Mifflin), have 
been kindly remembered for their noble deeds to this 
town in the work of opening up this internal waterway, 
by having streets in the northern end of our city named 
after them. Mr. Guilford has occupied this home sinoe 
1830, here reared a noble family, and from it has gone 
out to a long continued career of usefulness in the erec- 
tion and operation of Swatara (Schuylkill county), and 
Dudley (long known as Donaghmore) furnaces. He 
married. May, 1830, Miss Catharine E. Doll, and their 
oldest son with his family living in the adjoining 
house, a citizen and physician of high repute, keeps the 
declining days of an unusually long and prosperous 
journey from becoming dreary and dark. In the same 
house, or a stone house preceding this, had lived before 
him for some time Anthony Kelker, a revolutionary 
lieutenant, and a most worthy citizen. To this same 
stone house of Guilford's was brought the Hon. William 
Henry Harrison, when as a candidate for the United 
States Presidency he made his visit to Eastern Pennsyl- 
vania. Simeon Guilford, who was an ardent Whig and 
enthusiastic advocate of 

"The old Tippecanoe, Harrison and Tyler, too," 



26o LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and one of the local Committee of Entertainment, went 
all the way to Reading to meet this honorable ex- 
soldier, and accompanied the party in a tally-ho to Leb- 
anon. Although stopping at what now is the Central 
Hotel, then the Buck Hotel, he took the distinguished 
citizen and coming President to his own home for a few 
hours' social intercourse. All this is history worth re- 
membering as clinging to the solid masonry of this old 
landmark. [P. S.— Mr. Guilford died in Feb'y, 1895.] 

The corner property where now stands the Lebanon 
National Bank, is the same where formerly stood a 
stone building, in which dwelt, in 1830, Mr. William 
Moore, who was instrumental in establishing the first 
bank in Lebanon, and became its first president. The 
lots of the town plot covering Mr. Guilford's and Mr. 
Moore's residences are numbered 66 and 67 respect- 
ively. Mr. Moore was a highly honored aud leading 
citizen, filling various offices in the gift of his towns- 
people. He lies buried in the Old Reformed graveyard, 
and his grave is marked by a suitable stone. This cor- 
ner of Ninth and Cumberland was long occupied by a 
mercantile house, where, I think, Oves & Moore car- 
ried on the dry goods business for years. The bank 
building displaced it about ten or twelve years ago, 
when it removed hither from where the dining room of 
Eagle Hotel is now located. 

The site of the Eagle Hotel, on the opposite cor- 
ner, has quite an illustrious history. Here Frederick 
Stoever, Esq., the youngest son of the Rev. John Cas- 



A HALT ON MARKET SQUARE. 26 E 

per Stoever, some time in the latter half of the last cen- 
tury, erected a store building and carried on business, 
and for some time the office of "a 'squire." Later 
Peter Lineaweaver, the third American by that name, 
came into possession of it and changed the store into an 
old-time hostelry, where stopped more of the old-time 
visitors and transient guests than possibly at any other 
house in Lebanon. In its halls it was a frequent thing 
to hear the voices of the most brilliant leo^al lights of 
East Pennsylvania and the political visitors of that day. 
The house has since been rebuilt, and its reputation for 
high grade service is known far and wide. We are 
hindered for lack of space to enter into any further his- 
tory of the house, or the families that have resided here, 
or even to give the past occurrences of the old Henry 
DeHufif manufactory of copper and silver- ware that 
used to occupy the space south of Eagle Hotel, thus 
completing the Square. The readers can find Mr. 
Stoever's grave on Salem Lutheran burial-ground, and 
the Lineaweavers on the Old Reformed. The latter' s 
family was intermarried with the Tobys, the Klines, 
and the Krauses, all of whom are well known in 
Lebanon and its vicinity. 

We trust our halt on this Square lias convinced my 
readers that this heart of Lebanon has coursed with 
good blood and sent out to bless the world and fight its 
battles a greater array of strong and manly men than 
any similar spot of earth, of equal dimensions, in any 
citv of our land. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

SALKM LUTHERAN CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 

Our halt on Lebanon's Market Square has detained 
US lono^er than we had at first contemplated. Thus 
having mingled with scenes of stirring business life in 
the past two chapters, let us without much ceremony 
bow ourselves out of these surroundings and transfer 
ourselves to the corner of Eight and Willow streets, 
where we will find a monument of old-time church-love 
and a volume of ancient local history in the landmark 
of the Salem Lutheran church edifice that shall now 
occupy our attention. 

This church, as well as the Old Reformed — the only 
two congregations of Lebanon that have an age corre- 
sponding to or antedating that of the town itself — has 
its second local habitation. Before Mr. Steitz had laid 
out this town, and an aggregation of dwellers here had 
made the beginnings of a village, what few Lutheran 
residents were found in this immediate territory wor- 
shiped with their brethren of the surrounding country, 
either at the Hill church, about 2^ miles to the north- 
west, or else at Krupp's (or Grubben) church, about 2>^ 
miles to the southeast, but mostly with the latter. 
Here really Salem Lutheran church was born, probably 

(262) 



SALEM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 



26- 



as earl}' as 1735, and led through its infantile life. 
Rev. J. Casper Stoever was both founder and pastor of 




SAI^EM I^UTHERAN CHURCH, I^EBANON, PA, 

the Lutheran side, and Rev. Conrad Templeman of the 
Reformed — for it was a union church. While there are 



264 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

still to be found traces of the foundations of this church 
edifice and a graveyard to mark the spot, unfortunately 
there are no records at hand to tell us aught of its his- 
tory. The Hebron Diary makes mention of a Moravian 
Synod having been held in the Lutheran church, while 
///^zV church (completed in 1750) was being built ; and 
as there was no town church this allusion must 
evidently refer to this church, or else to some temporary 
house of worsliip in the village of Hebron or tlie cluster 
of houses that then served as a nucleus for the future 
Lebanon. Mr. Steitz himself having been a Lutheran 
may have made early provision for church services in 
the town he founded. Be that as it may, with the 
growth of Steitz's-town developed also the necessity 
and desire for a Lutheran church. And thus we early 
find the Grubben church weakened by the loss of the 
membership of the town church, into which it gradually 
merged — Rev. Stoever being the pastor of both. Rem- 
nant official records of this pastor and a few relics, such 
as chalice and flagon for communion service, bearing- 
dates " 1757 " and " 1760," are the only relics extant of 
these early Lutheran church beginnings here. Among 
these entries are the marriages of Francis Reynolds to 
Catharine Steitz, Feb. 25, 1731 ; George Reynolds to 
Eleanor Steitz, Dec. 12, 1738; and John Peter Kucher 
to Anna Barbara Koppenhefifer, Oct. 6, 1735. 

The first documentary evidence, however, of a sepa- 
rate Lutheran organization in the town limits that is in 
hand, is the deed conveying the present corner lot on 



SALEM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 265 

Kiglith and Willow streets to Jacob Bickel, Daniel 
Stroll, Philip Fernsler and Michael Reiter, trustees, for 
the use of the Lutheran congregation, and this is date'd 
March 13, 1765. For this piece of ground "the yearly 
rent of one red rose in June, in every year forever here- 
after, if the same shall be lawfull3^ demanded," was to 
be paid. The same year a school-house was erected on 
this lot, which was used for worship until the first 
church was built, three years later. At this time a 
most earnest, even solemn circular of appeal for finan- 
cial help was sent out to other Christians, carefully 
certified as to its genuineness and authority, by Pastor 
Stoever and several civil officers, empowering the 
Brethren Frederick Yensel and Christian Fremdling to 
receive such contributions. In this document allusion 
is made to the fact that hitherto "divine and relio^ious 
services" had been held with great inconvenience in 
private houses. From the help thus received, the con- 
gregation was enabled the following year, 1769, to erect 
its first house of worship in Lebanon. It stood on the 
southwest corner of the present graveyard, facing Wil- 
low street. It was a log structure which served well its 
purpose for thirty years, until the present massive 
church edifice displaced its use in 1798. Among the 
relics of this first building are still found the timbers in 
what is now "Oswego House" on Cumberland street ; 
an iron rooster which graced the old steeple, now in the 
possession of Mr. Geo. H. Reinoehl, and several pewter 
communion services are kept at the parsonage. The 
18 



266 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



writer had the pleasure of seeing these recently, to- 
gether with an altar-cloth of fine linen, bearing an early 
date (1773), and found the tankards beautifully en- 
graved thus : 




The bread or hostien-plate bears the monogram 
"I. CH." which, we presume, stands for " lesus 
Christus." The bell, also used on this building, still 
swings in the present steeple. 

While the earliest records of even this church are 
lost, there is at hand a Church Book of records begun 
by the pastor, Rev. F. A. Con. Muhlenberg, in 1773. 
From this date entries of official acts are faithfully 
made and historical data are well preserved. This pro- 
tocol preserves the facts of importance concerning the 
building of the present edifice. According to it, the 
corner-stone was laid June 8th, 1796, when Rev. 
Emmanuel Shultze, of Tulpehocken, preached in the 
forenoon. Rev. Hendel, of the Reformed church, Tul- 



SALKM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 267 

pehocken, in the afternoon, and the Rev. Schlegel 
(probably Moravian) in the evening. The names of the 
church officers then were as follows : 

Pastor — Rev. George I,oclitnan, A. M. 

Trustees — Michael Rieder, Philip Fernsler, Jacob Stieb, and 
Samuel Meily. 
Elders— Co\\x2i^ Reinoehl aud John Schnee. 
Deacons — Peter Shindel, Frederick Bmbich, and George Schott. 

Most of these names are still represented in the pres- 
ent membership of the church. We have in hand an 
illustrated "I^ife of Washington " in German (a trans- 
lation), printed here in 1810— but a decade after the^ 
President's death — which bears the imprint of John 
Schnee as publisher. Quite an enterprising literary 
venture for a little town of Pennsylvania Germans ! 
But then Lebanon had patriotic giants in those days, 
some surviving soldiers, who had fought with Washing- 
ton the battles of the Revolution. 

The second edifice of this church, now lacking but a 
few years of completing its first century of service, is 
substantially the same, externally, as when first built. 

There have been added about fifty years ago (1848), 
two vestibule corners to complete, with the originally 
appended massive stone steeple, the quadrangular shape 
of the structure, while its interior has been wholly re- 
modelled. It experienced another general renovation 
in 1866. Originally it had the very common style of 
church arrangement in olden times, namely, a high 
ceiling with steep, bulky galleries, the organ at one end 



268 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and a high goblet-shaped pulpit with sounding board at 
the other. In the midst stood the altar with banistered 
enclosure. An exact model of this original church, the 
workmanship of Mr. H. W. Embich, janitor, on North 
Eighth street, can now be seen in the latter's home. 
We had the pleasure of seeing here some other old relics 
of this original building, and learning some data of im- 
portance in the special services held in the past century 
in this ancient temple of divine worship. The same 
church servant has also kindly given us a look into the 
towering belfry of this massive edifice, from which one 
or the other of two silvery-toned voices has for a cen- 
tury been calling its worshippers to service, or else an- 
nouncing the death of its members, or else proclaiming 
to the city the outbreak of some accidental conflagra- 
tion, or the birth of some national holiday. 

These bells have a history. The oldest and smallest 
one, weighing about i,ooo pounds, was used in the 
first building, and was cast in London, England, and 
shipped simultaneously with a similar one for Trinity 
church, Lancaster, Pa. It bears an inscription as fol- 
lows : "For the Lutheran Congregation in Lebanon- 
town, Lancaster Co., in the Province of Pennsylvania. 
Pack & Chapman, of London, Fecit, 1770." The 
larger bell was cast by Jones & Hitchcock, Troy, N. Y., 
in 1854, and weighs over a ton. In a storage place in 
this lofty belfry we were shown also a few antique locks, 
made for and long used at the doors of the church. 
They are immense copper and iron constructions, about 



SALEM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 269 

8x10 inches in dimensions, and were made, according to 
the inscription on exposed plates, by "John Rohrer, 
Locksmith, Lebanon, 1798," and "Jacob Smith, Lock- 
smith, Lebanon, 1798," respectively. Besides the latch 
they are provided with five bolts or rails, enough to 
lock out such foes as heresy, schism, the world, the 
flesh and the devil. We here found also a curious look- 
ing basket, not much unlike the one of bulrushes in 
which the infant Moses was rescued, but having found 
quite a different use. We were told that when in 1847 
or '48 the steeple was painted, this contrivance was used 
in connection with tackle and pulley to prevent thd 
necessity of building a scaffolding, and that in this in- 
vention Messrs. Nagle and (John) Dreher completed 
their contract of painting unharmed. 

To come back again to the story of the first bell, it 
was less than a decade before this English product was 
hung in its place in the first church, when it began, 
like the old Liberty Bell of Philadelphia to "proclaim 
liberty throughout the land and to all the inhabitants 
thereof." Its sound must not have been very musical 
to the several hundred Hessian prisoners, who were 
quartered here for some time after their capture at the 
battle of Trenton, N. J., but it was about this kind 
of irony these hateful English allies deserved. 

The pastors who have served this congregation since 
its foundation are here mentioned. We would like to 
give brief sketches of all, but have space only to give 
names and dates. The record is as follows : 



270 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Rev. John Casper Stoever (?)i735-i773 

" Fred. Aug. Con. Muhlenberg I773-I775 

" John William Kurtz 1775-1794 

" George Lochman, D. D 1794-1815 

" William G. Ernst, D. D 1815-1836 

" Jonathan RuthraujBf 1836-1844 

" William G. Ernst, D. D 1844-1849 

" G. F. Krotel, D. D 1849-1853 

" John N. Hoffman 1853-1854 

" Henry S. Miller 1854-1864 

** B. W. Schmauk 1864-1876 

" Geo. H. Trabert 1877-1883 

r B. W. Schmauk -, 

"i y 1883-189S 

I Theodore E. Schmauk i ^ ^^ 

It would be interesting to enter into an account of the 
arduous labors of these servants of God at this place, 
but that would require volumes, and is not the present 
purpose of these letters. Suffice it to say that as far as 
we know all have given diligent service for the up- 
building of this parish, and that the combined labors of 
all, together with the cooperation of the congregation, 
have resulted in building up one of the strongest and 
most influential churches of Lebanon. 

Only one of these pastors is buried here, viz. : Dr. W. 
G. Ernst, who died in 1849. ^ small marble monu- 
ment near the rear entrance of the church marks his 
resting place. Upon it are epitaphs to the memory of 
his mother (Elizabeth Ernst, wife of Rev. John Fred- 
erick Ernst, born March 22, 1747, died January 31, 
1826) and other relatives. His own reads thus : 



SALEM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 



271 



In Memory of 

Rev. WITvIvIAM G. ERNST, D. D. 

who was boru in Sussex Co., N. J. 

October 30, 1786. 

He preached the Gospel for 

34 years, 29 of which he was 

Pastor of this Congregation. 



Through the merits of his Savior he 

entered into his eternal rest 

Sept. I, A. D. 1849. 

AGED 
62 yrs. 10 months. 



"Blessed are the dead which die in 
the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith 
the Spirit, that they may rest from 
their labors : and their works do fol- 
low them." 



The third pastor, Rev. Kurtz, a younger brother, we 
think, of the Rev. John Nicholas Kurtz, of Tulpe- 
hocken, also lies buried in the county, but at Jones- 
town, being- then also a part of this parish. 

The list of pastors numbers some of this denomi- 
nation's most noted and scholarly ministers. Rev. 
Muhlenberg was a son of the distinguished patriarch, 
and it is altogether probable that as his father was still 
living during this son's pastorship here, he visited 
him and thus most likely preached for him ; so that 
although without a record stating the fact, we be- 
lieve that the illustrious Henry Melchoir Muhlenberg 
preached also in this city, and that in Salem's pulpit. 



272 

From this mother church have gone out Zion's in 
1844 (from which has branched Seventh Street Luth- 
eran,) and Trinity in 1885. Though vast the influence 
it exerted for so long a period, the church to-day is 
abreast in numbers, influence and activity with the 
most active of the city, and does not have any signs of 
age, save in the influence it wields and the merited re- 
spect it receives from the younger churches of the city. 

A step out of the rear door of this ancient structure 
and we are in the original cemetery, where are sleep- 
ing the first few generations of worshipers here. 
What a book this is to read ! Familiar names that 
were once on every lip, have here been chiseled on cold 
marble with the significant "In Memoriam!" The 
truth is, despite the somberness, a cemetery has certain 
indescribable charms for most of us. It is the place for 
deep thought, for silent revery, for next to real com- 
munion with our departed friends. 

This graveyard has the old enclosure of a stone wall 
to keep out the vagrant, the irreverent, the vandal and 
the busy w^orld that surges by, with neither time nor in- 
clination to check its rushing gait for a thing so utterly 
foreign and chilling to its arduous zest as that of a 
burial place. It is a pity that this wall has too often 
shut out also the presence, the sight and the tender care 
of the surviving friends of these departed ones ; for 
there is not apparent here the tender care, which the 
worth of the departed, the name of this church, and the 
conspicuity of this street corner deserve. Could not 



SALEM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 



273 



steps be taken to beautify this spot like Mt. Lebanon, 
and a fund be raised to keep it in repair? We should 




^j^^^^^ 



ft 



^.f 



\ 




ANOTHER VIEW OF SAI.EM LUTHERAN CHURCH, I.EBANON, PA. 



be glad to give a transcript of mau}^ old tombstone in- 
scriptions found here, but we have space for but a few. 



274 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Some of the oldest have so faded that they are no longer 
legible. It is believed that such an one marks the 
grave of Mr. George Steitz ; for upon the most reliable 
tradition of his descendants, despite any former supposi- 
tion to the contrary, it is generally believed that this 
founder of our town, who died in 1769, lies buried here. 
His great-great-grand-daughter, Mrs. Allen D. Hoffer, 
told the author that she remembers having visited in 
her childhood this old graveyard in company with her 
grandmother, who used to point out an unmarked grave 
near the western wall as the spot where grandfather 
Steitz was buried. But even this is only tradition, how- 
ever reliable. Can it be that this old German founder of 
Lebanon was, like the great leader and lawgiver of Israel, 
buried by the angels of God out of human sight, and 
shall no one ever know the place of his sepulture? The 
graves of his daughter, grand-daughter and other rela- 
tives are here, and their epitaphs are quite legible. 
There follows that of his grand-daughter, Catharine 
Reynolds (Clark), to whom he bequeathed his property 
on condition she marry a German. But true love 
neither runs smooth nor according to prescribed lines of 
nationality, and so this heiress married a Scotch- 
Irishman, Thomas Clark, Bsqr., and I suppose forfeited 
her legacy. After a comparatively long and (we sup- 
pose) happy life, they were here gathered side by side, 
and the two large flat marble stones covering their 
graves give evidence that they were not wholly without 
means. Her epitaph reads thus : 



SAI.EM CHURCH AND GRAVEYARD. 



275 



In Memory of 

Mrs. CATHARINE CLARK 

Consort of 

Thomas Clark, Esqr., 

who was born on the 29th day 

of September 1756 

and departed this life 

the 30th day of June 18 17 

Aged 60 years 9 months 

and I day. 



' Blest are the dead whose souls are pure, 
Their sufferings past, their glory sure. ' ' 



The daughter of this couple was the mother of Mr. 
David Hammond, who, with his family, is to-day num- 
bered among our residents — a direct lineal descent from 
Mr. Steitz, of quite a number of generations. 

Here sleep also the wife and some children of Rev. 
Dr. Lochman, long the pastor. Likewise the elder 
Shindels, Bmbichs, Weidmans, Bickers, Reinoehls, 
George and Eleanor Reynolds (he a captain in the Re- 
volution, she the only daughter of George Steitz), 
Schantzes, Sixes, Uhlers, Stoevers and Yensels, besides 
many others. We give in conclusion a fac-simile of two 
more epitaphs — those of two children of pastors — the 
one the youngest son of the first pastor, arid the other a 
daughter of the fourth, whose mother sleeps by her side, 
having died at 18, when the daughter was a babe of but 
a year : 



276 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 




Hier Ruhen 

Die Gebeinen des 

FRIEDERICH STOVER 

Esqr. Ward Gebohren in Libanon 

Tausp. Am 20 Sept. A. D. 1759 

Und starb 

Am 24 May 1833 

Brachte Sein alter 

Auf 73 la. 8 Mo. 4 Da. 

Lei 2 Pet. i Ca. i v. 

Joh. L. Stoner Ma. 



IN 

MEMORY 

of 

MARIA REIDENAUR 

wife of 

Mr. George Reidenaur 

and daughter of the 

Revd. George Lochman, D. D. 

Died December 7, 1835. 

Aged 39 years, 5 months and 

2 days. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

OUR EXIT VIA OLD CUMBERLAND STREET TO 
GLONINGER'S FORT. 

There is enough of the antique left in Ivcbanon that 
has not yet been touched upon in these pages, to keep 
us busy here for some time longer. But, whilst it 
would be interesting to hunt up every relic of the pre- 
ceding century still to be found in the city, it is timq 
that we shake off the dust that has gathered on our 
travel-worn feet since our halt here and again resume 
our journey beyond. And so, with thanks for every 
favor and encouragement received while the guests of 
the city, my army of explorers, like so many Common- 
wealers, would graciously bow themselves out and con- 
tinue their pilgrimage down the lazy windings of the 
Quittapahilla. 

We shall go out orderly, taking the same way that 
the early visitors to Lebanon took, when making their 
departure, if their exit was towards the west — up 
towards Harris' Ferry, later Harrisburg. For let it be 
remembered that old roads are landmarks as well as old 
buildings. 

Leaving Salem Lutheran church corner and proceed- 
ing south on Eighth street, we pass — at the south-east 

(277) 



278 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

corner of Eighth and Willow — the home of Mr. John 
H. Hoffer, the same building having formerly been 
used as a school-house (as well as another old building, 
formerly occupying the rear of said lot) in which the 
noted Miss Rose Cleveland, sister of the President of 
the .United States, formerly taught our I^ebanon boys 
and girls. A little beyond, at the alley, is the Salem 
IvUtheran parsonage, in and out of which house, or one 
formerly occupying the spot, have gone the lyUtheran 
pastors of this church since the year 1800. Across the 
alley from this parsonage is the fine Roman Catholic 
church, built in 1876, but which site was previously oc- 
cupied for 60 years by a chapel, where this congrega- 
tion worshiped in its infancy. Immediately opposite 
is the county Court House — the first erected structure 
since the establishment of the county in 1813. This 
building was completed in 1818, and ever since that 
time our county courts have been held here, where are 
kept all the official documents of the same. Some of 
the earlier records were supposed to be endangered here 
when Lee's army invaded Pennsylvania in 1863, and 
were taken to the Schuylkill county court house for 
safe keeping, from which they were afterwards re- 
turned, and I am told some have not yet been 
unpacked from the fugitive packages. Dr. Kgle has 
published in his history an account of the first court 
records, showing that upon the establishment of the 
county — the court then held in the fine stone dwelling 
on south side of Cumberland street, between 9th and 



279 

loth, now owned by Mrs. Bougliter — ^James Buchanan, 
and Edward Godwin, and Thomas Elder, and Jacob B. 
Weidman, and the Wrights, and John Marks Biddle, 
and Edward Coleman, and John M. Forster, and the 
Fishers, and Hopkinses, and Henry Kurts, and Samuel 
Laird, and Moses McClain, and William Montgomery, 
and Nutz, and Morris, and Geo. B. Porter, and Chas. 
Richards, and the Smiths, and Francis R. Shunk, were 
among the most prominent attorneys at the bar that 
practiced here, and that Walter Franklin was the first 
president judge, and John Gloninger and David Krause 
were first associate judges. 

Diagonally opposite, on the south-east corner of this 
street intersection, stands the Central Hotel, formerly 
the old "Buck Hotel," in charge of Joseph Reinhard, 
where Wm. Henry Harrison stopped during his presi- 
dential campaign visit to Lebanon. 

Leaving this corner of the city, where the legal busi- 
ness of the county centres, and where every half or 
quarter of an hour the electric cars of the city meet, let 
us go westward on Cumberland street. But we shall not 
take time to do more than point out a few more build- 
ings of note. And one of these is the Ross house, 
where the flourishing Dr. Ross' drug store is located, 
noted because this is said to have been the first three- 
story house erected in the city. What a contrast with 
that early advanced architecture is the fine Nutting 
building with its six stories that has recently arisen by 
its side ! Another building which savors of age and 



28o LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

has doubtless an interesting history, is the stone build- 
ing occupied by Shiffler's green-grocery store. 

But we cross again the central square and now come 
to the fine stone dwellincr house of Mrs. Bouo:hter. It 
is very old, but one of the most roomy and hospitably 
built old mansions in our city. It has associated with 
it a history that decks it with a new garment of inter- 
est, viz : That it was used from the erection of Leba- 
non county, 1813, until the completion of the court 
house in 18 18, by the county as a temporary court 
house. It was here that those early legal lights of our 
court, already mentioned, then practiced law. In its 
original construction it was built as a farm house and 
had extensive grounds and all the necessary farm out- 
buildings. Thus there remained to within a year an 
old building used as a pig-sty, corn-crib, etc., which is 
said to have secreted and sheltered for a short time, in 
the ante- war period, certain fugitive slaves, who, being 
here befriended, made their escape hence to Canada in 
safety. To add to the justice and judicial reputation of 
this old homestead, it might be added that it was the 
residence at different periods of several legal lights of 
our court, viz: Jacob B. Weidman, Esq., Levi Kline, 
Esq., Amos R. Bough ter, Esq., and the late Judge of 
the county, Hon. John B. McPherson. 

Immediately opposite this fine old dwelling, where 
the late C. Henry's residence is now situated, used to 
stand the public house of Abraham Doebler, where 
usually stopped the lawyers from other counties that 



CUMBERLAND STREET TO GLONINGER'S FORT. 281 

practiced here in that early period. The writer recently 
learned from one of our best-informed citizens an inci- 
dent which helps to bring- to view the old-fashioned 
times then lived in this hostlery. The incident was 
related by Mr. James Buchanan, who told my informant 
how the loquacious and somewhat officious mistress of 
this house on one occasion, while he was boarding there, 
took him (Mr. Buchanan) to a cheaply-drawn portrait 
of her husband, hanging on the parlor wall, and began 
to recount the different steps of his successful, self-made 
career, following the story with an earnest admonition 
to the young aspirant to be good and self-reliant ancj 
persevering in his efforts, and he too might perchance 
some day shine as brilliantly as her husband. It is said 
that Buchanan never forgot that advice, and the self- 
complacent manner in which it was given. 

But we must hasten on. The north-east corner of 
loth and Cumberland used to contain an old house in 
which Dr. Marshall of some local fame used to reside. 
On the south-west corner of this street intersection stands 
the Farmers' Hotel, which must have been erected 
more than a century ago. It was built by one Han 
Georg Focht, about a decade before the Revolutionary 
war, inasmuch as this pioneer afterwards moved about 
four miles east of Lebanon on a farm still in the family's 
hands, where the house built, prior to 1770 still stands, 
which date marks the erection of an addition to it a few 
years later. This Mr. Focht was the great-grandfather 
of Mrs. John Reinoehl, of our Ivcbanon. 
19 



282 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



But we come now into the very oldest section of the 
city, where abound most of the ancient landmarks. 
Old Cumberland street, which led the way out of town 
before the Berks and Dauphin turnpike chose another 
and better way, still contains many of these first build- 
ings. They are mostly low^, one story log huts — some 




OLD CUMBERLAND STREET, LEBANON, PA. 
( Looking east ) 

now encased with boards — whose erection must date 
to the days of Steitz himself. One house here has the 
tradition of having been used as a church for some 
time. It is the one numbered "1122, " and the shape 
of the same much resembles the Hebron Moravian 
Church. It is two-storied, with peaked roof and di- 



CUMBERLAND STREET TO GI^ONINGER'S FORT. 283 

vided into apartments like the one at Hebron. Was it 
here that the local Lutherans and Reformed tempo- 
rarily worshipped before the erection of their first 
churches in town? Quite likely. For in our last chap- 
ter we learned that, because the Lutherans "found the 
worship of God in private houses inconvenient" they 
made efforts in 1768 to build a church. 

But Steitz ! where did he live? There has been 
much surmise, but as yet we have found nothing more 
authentic than a tradition that the Uhler residence or 
"Meadow Bank" of Mr. Geo. Hayes and his family 
marks the spot. There is much of circumstantial evir 
dence to corroborate this story. It was on the banks of 
the creek, fronting on the south and east, just the kind 
of site we always find these old Germans have selected 
for their homes. Besides, we find here a portion of a 
very old log building and an arched cellar or cave of 
such antiquity as to antedate the childhood of our oldest 
citizens. There is also a tradition that there are logs 
and beams of a larger building that formerly stood here, 
used in the construction of the present brick house, 
built years ago by Mr. Uhler, and that these were said 
to have been taken from Steitz's old house. Altogether 
the story is quite probable, and we shall henceforth 
think that Mr. Steitz spent his American life here, and 
that a fine meadow along the Quittapahilla stretching 
before his house (where now the C. & L. trains go to 
and fro) furnished the best hay for his cattle. 

The old Cumberland road (now blocked by the C. & 



284 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

L. R. R.) used to follow close to the banks of the Qnit- 
tapahilla creek, at the base of the knoll now crested by 
Mr. Hammond's fine home (throngh whose occupant's 
veins flows the blood of the town's too-nmch-forgotten 
and too-little-known founder), and led on through the 
Gloninger farm, past the old homestead, on to Sunny- 
side and the Stoever mills. Were we to make a call at 
Mr. Hammond's palatial residence, we should find it 
filled with a collection of rare and invaluable family 
heirlooms, descended through both lines of an equally 
prominent ancestry. 

But we must make a short halt at the Gloninger 
home in earlier days, commonly known as the Glon- 
inofcr "Fort." The house is still standins: on the 
south bank of the creek. George Gloninger must have 
erected it somewhere in the decade between 1740-50. 
Old histories speak of it as having been used as a place 
of refuge from the Indians during the period of warfare 
and their greatest depredations from 1750-65. It is a 
good specimen of the solid architecture of those days, 
with its piked roof and original port-holes for windows, 
and serves as an interesting landmark, because here the 
first American Gloninger immigrants settled, from 
whom has descended locally quite an illustrious family. 
It seems that the names of the American Gloninger an- 
cestors were Peter [Philip(?)] and his wife, Anna Bar- 
bara, and that Valentine, John, George and Peter were 
among their sons. Of these George may have been the 
oldest and remained on the old homestead as farmer. 



CUMBERLAND STREET TO GLONINGER'S FORT. 285 

The others distinguished themselves in other avenues 
of life. John, born in 1758, took an active part in the 
Revolutionary war, rose to official rank, held official 
positions in his native (then Dauphin) county by ap- 
pointment and election, and served a number of years 
as Associate Judge upon the erection of the county of 



rl 






¥;b 



THE GI.ONINGER "FORT," 

Lebanon. He was married to Catharine Orth, a 
daughter of Adam and Catharine (Kucher) Orth. 
Their son Philip, born in 1788, was a minister in the 
Reformed church, very brilliant, with a promising 
future before him, when he was cut down by an un- 



286 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

timely death in 1816. He had been stationed at Har- 
risburg previous to his death, and had been married to 
Eliza Clark, the daughter of Thomas Clark, Esq., and 
a great-granddaughter of Mr. George Steitz. His widow 
later married Col. Hammond and became the mother 
of Col. David Steitz Hammond, who resides in Eeb- 
anon. Concerning the ability and fine pastoral spirit 
of this minister, the following lines written and dedi- 
cated by him to his flock and sorrowing friends, a few 
days before his death, bear ample testimony : 

" Meinen Jesiim lass ich nicht, 
Jesus wircl mir helfen siegen 
Vor clem letzten zorngericht ! 

Und hier in den letzten zuegen, 
Ich weiss, nimmt der Tod mich hin 
Dass ich doch bey Jesus bin. 

" Wann dich die Last der Leiden drueckt 

Schau drum nicht Muthlos nieder ; 
Schau frei empor, sprich, mich erquickt 

Der Herr doch endlich wieder. 
Der Christen hohes Burger-Recht 

1st dort im Vaterlande. 
Der Christ, der irdisch denkt, denkt schlecht 

Und unter seinem Stande. 

"Dort ist das rechte Canaan, 
Wo Lebens Stroeme flieszen ; 
Blick oft hinauf, der Anblick kan 
Dein Leidens-Kelch versuesszen. 
Dort oben ist des Vaters-Haus 
Oott theilt zum Gnaden Lohn 
<;u Ueberwiudern Cronen aus ; 
Kaempf euch um Ruhm und Crone. 



CUMBERLAND STREET TO GLONINGER'S FORT. 287 

" Wann ich auch gleich bald scheiden 

Vou meinen Freudeii soil, 
Das, mir und ihn'u briugt Leiden 

Doch trostet dies mich wohl 
Dass wir in groessern Freuden 

Zusammen kommen dort ; 
Und bleiben ungescheiden 

An einem bessern ort." 

Another son of John and Catharine Gloninger was 
John W., the physician, whose attainments and skill 
gave him early in his long practice a first rank in the 
profession. He was a celebrated surgeon and oculist 
specialist, with a wide reputation. He was a frequejit 
contributor to medical journals, and an honored mem- 
ber of many medical societies. He left a family of 
children, viz. : Eliza, wife of Dr. David B. Marshall, al- 
ready alluded to in this chapter ; Matilda, wife of John 
Wetherill, of Philadelphia ; Dr. Cyrus D. , a noted phy- 
sician, whose widow and son, (Dr. Andrew H.), now 
occupy the old residence (corner of 9th and Cumber- 
land) ; Dr. David Stanley, of Philadelphia, and Alice, 
wife of Dr. A. H. Light, of Lebanon. 

We have recently seen the portrait painting of this 
old Revolutionary Gloninger worthy, which reflects 
much of the Saxon honesty, frankness and stern integ- 
rity for which he was noted. In the antiquarian collec- 
tion of our friend, Mr. E. W. S. Parthemore, of Harris- 
burg, we saw also an honorable discharge from militia 
duty of a fellow citizen that bears his signature, as 
follows : 



288 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 




The bearer, Henry Meyer, of Cap- 
tain Stover's Company of the 
Second Battalion of Lancaster 
County Militia, having made ap- 
pear to me that he is above the age of 53 
years, is discharged honorably from all 
militia duty, this 19th day of November, 1782. 
JOHN GLONINGER, Sec. Lieut, 
for Lancaster Militia. 



Nearly all the Gloniiigers that have departed this life 
sleep in the First Reformed Cemetery of this city, in 
the shadow of the church, which the earliest genera- 
tions were so active to establish. There we found the 
graves of Valentine, born June 11, 1766, died December 
24, 1844 ; Peter and Elizabeth, his wife ; John and all 
his family. Fitting monuments, or marble slabs, mark 
their resting places. Two of these are to the memory 
of Dr. John W. and Mary Ann, his wife. Another 
monument has its four faces occupied with memorial 
inscriptions of the Hon. John, born September 19, 1758, 
died January 22, 1836 (on the east) ; his wife, Cathar- 
ine, born October 31, 1767, died June 17, 1848 (on the 
west) ; his son, Rev. Philip, born February 17, 1788, 
died September 10, 1816 (on the north), and his son 
Cyrus, born December 25, 1804, died December 22, 
182 1 (on the south). Suitable epitaphs accompany each. 

It is fitting that the memory of such worthy ancestors 
be preserved, and we trust that whatever improvements 
may chance to be made in the old Gloninger farm in 
the hands of the new syndicate, the old homestead may 



CUMBERLAND STREET TO GLONINGER'S FORT. 289 

be long kept as a relic, and that somewhere a park, or 
street, or institution, may preserve the name of its first 
white proprietors, as that name is preserved by the far- 
famed spring that gushes with clearest water from lime- 
stone rocks on the plantation. To this spring let us 
now repair, to drink to each other's health as we part 
company for another interim. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 

" Tread softly here, as ye would tread 
In presence of the honored dead, 
With reverent step and low-bowed head. 

*• Speak low — as low as ye would speak 
Before some saint of grandeur meek 
Whose favor j^e would humbly seek. 

"Within these walls the very air 
Seems weighted with a fragrance rare 
Like incense burned at evening prayer, 

" Here may we sit and converse hold 
With those whose names in ages old 
Were in the book of fame enrolled. 

"Here under poets' power intense 
We leave the world of sound and sense, 
Where mortals strive with problems dense, 

"And mount to realms where fancy free, 
Above our poor humanity. 
Roams in a joyous ecstasy. 

" Or, if through history's maze we tread, 
The hero, patriot, long since dead. 
Whose great heart for his country bled, 
(290) 



A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 29 1 

"Seems once again to work and fight 
In superstition's darkest night 
For God, his fellows, and the right. 

"Enough ! mere words can never tell 
The influence of the grateful spell 
Which seems among these books to dwell." 

So wrote Alice C. Sawtelle in the Boston Literary 
^<9r/<^ sometime since ; and we confess being seized by 
something of this same strange spell upon entrance of 
any large and well-selected library of books. Of all the 
apartments of a house, the library has for us the 
greatest charm. We are ready to confess with Fran^ 
Dempster Sherman : 

Give me the room whose every nook 

Is dedicated to a book: 

Two windows will suffice for air 

And grant the light admission there ; 

One looking to the south, and one 

To speed the red departing sun. 

The eastern wall from frieze to plinth 

Shall be the poet's labyrinth, 

Where one may find the lords of rhyme 

From Homer's down to Dobson's time ; 

And at the northern side a space 

Shall show an open chimney-place, 

Set round with ancient tiles that tell 

Some legend old and weave a spell 

About the firedog-guarded seat. 

Where one may dream and taste the heat : 

Above, the mantel should not lack 

For curios and bric-a-brac — 



292 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Not much, but just enough to light 
The room up when the fire is bright. 
The volumes on this wall should be 
All prose and all philosophy, 
From Plato down to those who are 
The dim reflections of that star ; 
And these tomes all should serve to show 
How much we write— how little know ; 
For since the problem first was set 
No one has ever solved it yet. 
Upon the shelves toward the west 
The scientific books shall rest ; 
Beside them, history ; above — 
Religion — hope, and faith, and love ; 
Lastly, the southern wall should hold 
The story-tellers, new and old ; 
Haroun al Raschid, who was truth 
And happiness to all my youth, 
Shall have the honored place of all 
That dwell upon this sunny wall. 
And with him there shall stand a throng 
Of those who help mankind along 
More by their fascinating lies 
Than all the learning of the wdse. 

Such be the library ; and take 

This motto of a Latin make 

To grace the door through which I pass : 

Hie habitat Felicitas ! 

Believing that my readers share with me and others 
this subtle charm of the collection of books, we will 
spend an hour or more together in looking over the 
largest library of rare and antiquarian literature to be 
found in this valley. We venture the assertion that 



A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 



293 



there are not many private collections, and few public 
libraries, of greater antiquarian variety in the State, 
than that gathered and historically housed by Mr. 
Henry S. Heilman, of Sunny Side, whose residence is 




MR. HENRY S. HEILMAN'S HOMESTEAD. 
A VALUABLE LIBRARY. 



about two miles west of Lebanon. The house in which 
he lives is a large and substantial stone structure a cen- 
tury old, and was erected by one of the sons of the 
pioneer Lutheran minister of this valley. Rev. John 
Casper Stoever. Two inscribed tablets in its front eleva- 
tion tell the story and sentiment of its erection as 
follows : 



294 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



>i5 Gott Bessegne ij5 

dieses Haus und 

wer geht da ein 

und aus ! 

Johannes Stoever 

Angenes Stoeverin 

17 95 



145 Friede Sey in ^J5 


Diesem haus -*- 


Und niit Dehnen 


Welche Drauss. 


Dieses Haus 


Erbaut ist 


Anno 1795 



The Heilnians and Stoevers have been intermarried 
and so this commodions house serves as a relic of these 
two old families, whose thrift, intelligence and general 
cleverness have brought esteem and considerable fame to 
both. The present proprietor of this homestead came 
into its possession through his father, who died less 
than a year ago, and into whose possession it came by 
purchase in 1837. The writer has found him quite 
hospitable, and so he takes the liberty of ushering his 
company of fellow-explorers, without further ceremony, 
right into the room that shelters this antiquarian 
library, gathered principally by this our host. It is 
found in the southern wing of this building, on the 
first floor, to which it was found necessary to build an 
extension, which reaches back to the very edge of the 
historic Quittapahilla. 

Here are found a sufficient quantity of easy-chairs 
and rockers to rest the most weary of our historic 
tramps, while either from a cabinet or a full fledged 



A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 295 

pipe-organ, we may have our spirits soothed or re- 
freshed with sweet-voiced music ere we begin to 
ravish our eyes with the contents of the surround- 
ing alcoves of rarest book treasures. All around 
the wall, from floor to ceiling, stretch the bursting 
book-cases witli. their antiquarian lore. Here are 
gathered some of the oldest and rarest books known to 
the bibliophile, from the tiniest specimens to the most 
cumbersome tomes. The library is the complement of 
Mr. Banner's museum, at Manheim, of rare china and 
crockery-ware. That shows the domestic, this the 
religious life of our people in colonial times. There are 
here found a number of the cunabulae, or cradle books, 
and large quantities of the earliest Bibles, and hymn- 
books, and almanacs, since the art of printing w^as 
invented. x\mong early editions or rare copies of books 
this library abounds. The Sauers' German Bible of 
1743 — first editions of Bibles printed in America and 
very rare — is here represented by three copies. The 
rarest curios of Franklin's publications here find a place, 
more especially such specimens of his books as were pub- 
lished for the German people. Among the very rarest 
books in this collection is one of Conrad Beisel's works, 
and published in 1730 by Benj. Franklin before even this 
German Baptist leader could muster strength to have 
his own press. It is probable that this volume is the 
only one extant, and Prof. Seidenstecher, before his 
recent death, had arranged to have the title page of it 
photographed. We give here this title-page as follows : 



296 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Mystische 
Und selir gehe3'nie 
Sprueche 
Welche in der Himmlichen Schule 
Des heiligen geistes erleniet 
Uud den solgens eiuige 
Poetische Gedichte 

AufFgesetzt 
Den liebhabern und schulern 
Der Goettlichern und Himmlichen 
Weisheit zum dienst. 

Vor 
Die Sail dieser welt aber 
Haben wir keine spise werden 
Ihnen auch wohl ein werschlossener 
Garden und versiegelter brunnen bleiben. 
Zu Philadelphia Gedrucht 

by B. Franklin im Yahr 1740, 

Among the many almanacs collected here, are the 
Hoch Americanish DeiUcher Kalender^ from 1745 to 
date, bound in volumes. Two of them were published 
by Benj. Franklin and called " Neu Americanish 
Deutscher Kalender." One in 1752, when in September 
eleven days were dropped or cut out, viz: from the 3rd 
to 13th inclusive, so as to allow for the difference in 
time between the Old Style and the New Style of 
reckoning time, is also found here, and is quite rare. 
The sum of $100 has been set upon a perfect copy. 
The full list of almanacs in Mr. Heilman's possession, 
ranging from 1745 to 1894, all printed in Pennsylvania, 
is as follows : Those published by Christoph Saur 
and Michael Billmyer, of Germantown ; by Benj. 



A VALUABI.E I.IBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 297 

Franklin, Antony Ambrnster, David Caeschler, P. 
Mneller, Henry Miller, Melchoir Steiner and Carl Cist, 
Philadelphia ; by Matthias Barto^is, Francis Bailey, 
Johann Albrecht, of lyancaster, etc., also the family il- 
lustrated church almanacs, as the Catholic Home, com- 
plete; the Catholic F'amily, from 1871-76; the Reformed, 
complete ; Lutheran, incomplete, etc. ; also Webster's, 
Phila. RecorcP s^ Phila. Public Ledger^s^ the American, 
Frank Leslie's, Ayer's American in ten languages. 
All of these are bound and in good condition. 

We make a hasty and partial list from memory of 
other rare and curious volumes we found here, as^ 
follows : 

1. Almost a complete list of the more than fifty 'Ephrata publica- 
tions, some of which are original books, while others are reprints of 
devotional manuals bearing the imprint of this Seventh Day German 
Baptist press, including the "Martyrer Spiegel," Ephrata, 1748, 
which is a volume as large as the largest family Bible, 

2. Two copies of the "Poor Man's Bible," being nothing else but a 
package of slips of German Scripture texts, enclosed in a wooden case 
— a rare curiosity. 

3. A copy of Arndt's Wahres ChristentJmni, reprinted for the Ger- 
man people of Pennsylvania by Benj. Franklin, 1751. 

4. "Ein Sermo von den Kleiner Brode," by Dr. Martin Luther, 
gehalten zu Wittenberg in 1523, and printed then. 

5. Many of Sauer's publications (Germantown), who was the first 
American German printer. 

6. A manuscript Memorial Reformation Sermon by Dr. F. H. C. 
Helmuth, in a hand of as perfect German script as if printed — the 
sermon having been delivered in Philadelphia, Oct. 31, 181 7, from 
text, Ps. cxviii. 24. 

7. A voluminous illustrated German copy of Josephus, bearing the 

20 



298 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

imprint of some German publisher, dated 1569 — former!}^ the posses- 
sion of some German Lebanon Valley settler by the name of Eager 
Boger, where the celebrated Dr. Demme, Lutheran pastor of Zion 
Lutheran church, Philadelphia, found it and borrowed it, keeping the 
same for three years, and using it as a copy for his edition (German) of 
Josephus, now the one mostly sold to German readers. This old copy 
has many annotations and corrections on margins, which Dr. Mann 
has recognized as Dr. Demme's handwriting. [It is said that Dr. 
Demme and Rev. Ernst were rival candidates for the Lebanon pastor- 
ate, but that Dr. Demme's preaching proved too scholarly for these 
people and Rev. Ernst was chosen, while Dr. Demme went to Phila- 
delphia.] 

8. First German Bible printed west of the AUeghenies, at Bedford, 
with dozens of other rare and old copies of the Holy Scriptures, 

9. A copy of Rev. J. Casper Stoever's last will, and other family ar- 
chives. 

This list gives but a faint idea of the treasures that 
are here collected and carefully arranged. They have 
cost their possessor no little time, money and research, 
but they must give him immense satisfaction as they 
speak to him of the centuries that are past. We can 
imagine that the encased spirits, communicating from 
these bookshelves of wisdom's lore are often better 
companions than many who still wrap flesh and blood 
about them. So with a courteous bow for favors 
shown, we shall leave our friend to himself and his 
mute companions, imagining that we hear him say in 
the language of John Fletcher : 

Give me 
Leave to enjoy myself. That place that does 
Contain my books, the best companions, is 



A VALUABLE LIBRARY HISTORICALLY HOUSED. 299 

To me a glorious court, where hourly I 

Converse with the old sages and philosophers ; 

And sometimes for variety I confer 

With kings and emperors, and weigh their counsels ; 

Calling their victories, if unjustly got, 

Unto a strict account ; and in my fancy 

Deface their ill-placed statues. Can I then 

Part with such content pleasures, to embrace 

Uncertain vanities ? No : be it your care 

To augment a heap of wealth , it shall be mine 

To increase in knowledge. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

THE REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 

Let us to-day follow the Quittapahilla Creek for half 
a mile in its meandering course, from where it washes 
by the home of Mr. Heilman, last visited, and it will 
lead us to an interesting relic of the first settlement of 
this region. It is the old mill-homestead of the Rev. 
Johann Casper Stoever, the first German Lutheran min- 
ister ordained in Pennsylvania. It is located just an 
eighth of a mile south of the village of Cleona, and 
about two and a half miles west of Lebanon. It is a 
landmark of the olden times that holds for us a fasci- 
nating charm. 

The building, which is a large and substantial stone 
mill-structure — originally provided with a suite of 
domestic apartments, and occupied by this pioneer of 
Lutheranism as the permanent abode of himself and 
family for a period of forty years — was erected in the 
years 1737-40. The strong and substantial character of 
the building required three years of time to complete it. 
It is a massive structure, considering the times and the 
meager facilities of building; in dimensions about 40 by 
60 feet. Its walls, three feet thick, are most of them as 
solid to-day as when first erected, though composed of 

(300) 



REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 301 

simple, undressed surface stones, many of them no 
larger than a man's fist. The mortar is as firm as 
cement, and no pen-knife has yet been found strong 
enough to break its cohesive service. The writer has 
thought that if all the Lutheran stones that first com- 
posed the walls of the spiritual building of this denom- 




REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 

ination in America, had been as firmly cemented as this 
good Lutheran pastor bound together the stones of his 
earthly abode, this now honored and numerically strong 
denomination would much sooner have assumed firm 
and conspicuous proportions in this country. 



302 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Whether it was from a generous desire to supply 
these early settlers with bread for the body as ^vell as 
for the soul, that this pastor built a mill almost simul- 
taneously with the church, or whether he saw in it a 
chance to grind more cash into his own pockets, we can 
not tell and would not wish to insinuate. Suffice it to 
say that for more than a hundred and fifty years the 
waters of the Quittapahilla have here turned the 
machinery that has ground out the one kind of grist 
for the customer and the other for the owner. It was 
either the grist of this mill, or that of his large parish, 
probably both together, that made its first owner com- 
paratively wealthy. For at his death Rev. Mr. Stoever 
was the possessor, besides this mill-property, of over 
five hundred acres of the richest land in the valley, 
which, divided into three large farms, were left to three 
of his sons, Adam, John Casper (a Captain in the Revo- 
lution, whose home we visited last week), and Tobias. 

This antiquated pile of masonry, constituting this 
pioneer minister's earthly abode, was further provided 
with an arched mural fortification, the foundation walls 
of which are still visible on the southwest corner of the 
building. There was also a stockade, or log-barricade, 
used for defense against savage foes when they made 
their forays in that period. And here the neighbors 
were frequently sheltered, when in all this community 
manifold depredations were committed by the red men. 

The illustrious builder of this home was a native of 
the Electorate of Hesse, now Prussia. There he was 



REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 303 

born, December 21, 1707, the son of honorable and 
pious parents. After teaching school for two terms in 
the Rhenish Palatinate, he sailed from Rotterdam, with 
ninety of his fellow Palatinates, on the ship "James 
Goodwill," and landed at Philadelphia September 11, 
1728. On the ship's register his name is recorded as 
Johann Casper Steover, S. S. (Theol. Stud.), and is dis- 
tinguished from another person of the same name, a 
near relative, who registered as Missionaire, and settled 
as pastor of the Lutherans in Spottsylvania, Va. The 
latter died a few years later at sea, on a return trip from 
Europe, which he had revisited. The former, after 
about a year's temporary abode at the Trappe, then 
known as Providence, Montgomery county, Pa., took 
up his abode at the Conestoga, near the present town 
of New Holland, Lancaster county. Pa. Here he lived 
until about 1740, when he moved to his newly-finished 
house on the Quittapahilla. 

Wherever this young pastor dwelt, he reached out 
beyond, visiting his scattered countrymen and organiz- 
ing them into congregations. Thus we find him in 
charge of supplying the first Lutheran churches in 
Montgomery, Berks and Lancaster counties, even be- 
fore he was ordained. In 1732, Rev. John Christian 
Shultze, a Lutheran minister ordained in Germany, ar- 
rived in this country, and took charge of the congrega- 
tions at Philadelphia, Providence and New Holland, by 
which Henry Melchoir IMuhlenberg was called ten years 
later. Shultze early visited Stoever, and being obliged 



304 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

in less than a year to return to England and Germany 
to secure ministers and money for the relief of Luth- 
erans in Pennsylvania, he ordained Stoever and placed 
him over these congregations. This ordination took 
place at the Trappe, in a barn, being the only place of 
worship this congregation could then afford, and it 
claims to be the first solemn setting apart to the holy 
office of a German Lutheran on Pennsylvania territory. 

Pastor Stoever must have been a prince at organizing 
churches. We find his name associated with almost 
every Lutheran congregation that was founded during 
the fitst decade and a half after his arrival in America, 
in what is now Lancaster, Berks, Lebanon and York 
counties. At the Trappe, New Holland, Lancaster, 
Warwick (Brickerville), Tulpehocken, Nothkill (Bern- 
ville), Heidelberg (SchaefFerstown), Bethel, at Jordan, 
Krupps, the Hill Church (Berg-Kirch), and at York, his 
name is associated with the laying of the foundations. 
Out of these small beginnings have directly grown 
dozens of strong congregations, and indirectly de- 
veloped much of the Lutheranism of this State and 
beyond. For it is quite certain that eastern Pennsylva- 
nia is the cradle of the greater portion of American Lu- 
theranism, that to-day numbers its communicants by 
many hundred thousands. 

The organization of the Hill church in 1733, which, 
however, was long designated as "The Church on the 
Quiitapahilla," doubtless led Pastor Stoever to rear his 
home near it. Hence, having built this abode he 



REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVKR HOMESTEAD. 305 

removed hither from the Conestoga in about 1740, and 
here raised his family. Here transpired what is of 
domestic interest for more than the latter half of the 
long life of this enterprising and energetic dominie. 

There are two incidents of peculiar interest asso- 
ciated with this ancient landmark. The one is the 
friendly hospitality shown a fellow pastor and his 
family upon their arrival here from the Fatherland. 
This family was no less a one than that of the Rev. 
John George Eager, the first American progenitor of 
the well known Baughers of the Lutheran Church. 
When this ancestor, after a brief pastorate in Simmern, 
Germany, arrived with his small family in Philadel- 
phia, October 23, 1752, Pastor Stoever, by previous ar- 
rangement we presume, was there to meet him and 
take him to his own home "on the Quittapahilla." 
Here the new-comers were hospitably quartered for 
eight months. Meanwhile (June 9th, 1753) the third 
child was born unto these recent immigrants, which was 
named Catharine Margaret, and at whose baptism by 
Pastor Stoever, the dominie's wife and hostess stood as 
sponsor. Rev. Eager had meantime received and ac- 
cepted a call as pastor from the Lutheran church of 
Hanover, Pa., which he served for three months before 
removing his family from this hospitable abode. It is 
worthy of mention in this connection that by a siiig- 
ular and happy coincidence, two descendants of these 
friends and yoke-fellows were afterwards intimately 
associated as co-workers in the early history of Penn- 



3o6 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

sylvania College at Gettysburg — the one in the person 
of Dr. Henry Louis Baugher as professor of Greek and 
as President of the institution for a period of thirty-six 
years, and the other, Prof. Martin Luther Stoever, 
IvL.D., as principal of the preparatory department and 
as professor of history and Latin in college for a period 
of twenty-eight years. 

The other incident alluded to is that connected with 
Pastor Stoever's death. Although feeble and sickly for 
years prior to his demise, this energetic servant of God 
did not unbuckle his gospel harness until the end came. 
His debilitated condition, however, sometimes incapaci- 
tated him to leave his house, when, if possible, he 
sought to minister to his people there. Thus he had 
requested his catechetical class of the Hill church to 
meet him at his home on Ascension Day (May 13th, 
1779), anxious that they be confirmed on that day in 
order to be ready to participate with the congregation 
in the celebration of the Lord's Supper on the coming 
Whitsuntide. Accordingly the class here convened, and 
after a lengthy and fatiguing service of review and ex- 
amination, concluding with the rite of confirmation, the 
pastor, utterly exhausted, fell over and expired in the 
presence of his family, some members of his flock and 
the class upon whose heads he had just laid the hands of 
confirmation. His funeral took place a few days later 
at the Hill church, where in the adjoining graveyard his 
ashes repose. It is possible that the near future will see 
a fitting monument rise here to do honor to a life so 



REV. JOHN CASPER STOEVER HOMESTEAD. 307 

abundant in labors and so self-sacrificing and heroic in 
its efforts to help and befriend others. 

Before taking onr leave of this interesting old 
mill-manse — now the property of Henry S. Heilman, 
who in 1879 purchased it of a Mr. Shenk, and soon 
thereafter undertook to make some internal repairs — let 
me say that much of the building's interior and exter- 
ior is as it was in the days of Stoever. ' Tis true, the 
domestic apartments have been torn out or altered, but 
the windows, the floors, the walls, all the main frame- 
work of the building remains. If the same water- 
wheel is not there, the same creek still supplies the 
power to carry on the same business. Immense tim- 
bers constitute the frame-work. From a heavy poplar 
beam that was removed at its remodeling, the writer 
has had carved for himself at the Miller Organ Com- 
pany, of Lebanon, a beautiful relic in the shape of a 
tray and goblets. On a two-inch walnut step was, 
until recently, found the name of the builder, together 
with the date 1737, evidently burned on with a hot 
iron. The hat-rack of Pastor Stoever, of walnut frame- 
work and pegs, upon which he must have hung his 
great-coat or hat a thousand times and more, is still 
preserved. So are some of the library and closet-doors 
of the old manse, all made of solid walnut. Altogether, 
the landmark is well preserved and well worth a visit 
by any one interested in what is so fraught with an- 
cient and important events. 



CHAPTER XXX. 



A VISIT TO HILL CHURCH. 



Let us take onr walk to-day with the pioneer Luth- 
eran dominie of this valley, from his mill-manse on the 
Quittapahilla last visited, to the cliurch on the hill 
("Berg-Kirche"), about a mile to the northwest. As 
we walk in the olden time it will not be difficult to 
imagine this pious pastor as accompanying us, for this 
is a journey he regularly made for nearly forty years 
prior to his death, and before the Revolution. There 
was not a little danger connected with church-going 
here when this first pastor was yet officiating, for we 
have records that frequently the people were obliged to 
bring their guns along to be ready to defend themselves 
ao^ainst the attacks of the savag^es. 

This church is the mother of all Lutheran and 
Reformed congregations in this vicinity. Whether it 
was Reformed from the very beginning the writer can- 
not positively assert, but we find both branches of these 
oft-united portions of the German Protestant church 
worshiping here as early as 1744. From a history of 
the churches in Lebanon county, given by Dr. Geo. 
Loch man in 1812, we learn that the congregation was 
gathered as early as 1733, and is the oldest church in 

(308) 



A VISIT TO HILL CHURCH. 



309 



the county. According to its earliest records kept, it 
was called the "Church on the Ouittapahilla," though 
it seems now quite a little distance from this stream. 
The first building consisted of a rudely constructed 
edifice of logs. There were also hewn logs for seats, 




THE HlI^Iv CHURCH (^"BTiRG KIRCHE^j. 

and a most primitive construction served as pulpit. 
The building had no floor, and there were in it no 
stoves for a long time, according to the prevailing cus- 
tom of the warmer clime of the native country of these 
German worshippers. In the coldest wintry months a 
wood-fire of logs was built on the outside of the church, 
around which the assembled congregation would sit 



3IO LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

awaiting the arrival of the minister. Even when the 
congregation could well afford such a luxury as a wood- 
stove, its introduction is said to have met with consid- 
able opposition. There was a rack provided for storing 
away their guns during worship, though frequently a 
few of the members stood as weaponed sentinels at the 
church doors while worship was being conducted. The 
present brick building was erected in 1837, ^^ being the 
third edifice. 

The following Lutheran pastors have served this 
church : 

Rev, John Casper Stoever, 1733-1779. 

Rev. Frederick Theodore Melsheimer, 1779-1794. 

Rev. George Lochman, D. D., 1794-18 r5. 

Rev. William G. Ernst, D. D., 1815-1836. 

Rev. Jonathan Ruthrauff, 1 836-1 849. 

Rev. A. C. Wedekind, D. D., 1850-1853. 

Rev. J. M. Deitzler, 1856-1860. 

Rev. Christian A. Fetzer, 1860-1863. 

Rev. George P. Weaver, 1 863-1 864. 

Rev. J. M. Dietzler,i865-i890. 

Rev, W. H. Lewars, 1890-date. 

The Reformed pastors have been the same as those 
who served the First Reformed Church of Lebanon (see 
record), beginning with Rev. Conrad Templeman as 
early at least as 1744, if not 1733 ; and after the church 
of Lebanon became an independent pastorate, in 1864, 
the Hill church was connected with the Annville pas- 
torate, and has since been served by Dr. Jonathan E. 
Hiester. 



A VISIT TO HILL CHURCH. 311 

The early Lutheran record, kept by the first pastor, is 
quite complete. The book in itself is a curiosity, being 
bound in raw-hide and its leaves worm-eaten and greatly 
discolored by age. Still the entries are quite legible 
and should be published in some form to be preserved. 
We give this gentle hint to the present pastor, in whose 
hands it is found. There is here also quite an old Bible, 
printed in Halle more than a century ago, and bought 
by the congregation for the altar service (in which use 
it is still found), for 16 shillings and 6 pence. So there 
is likewise in possession of the church a very old Com- 
munion cup, bearing date 1745. 

Being located on high ground there is here afforded a 
magnificent view of the rich valley that stretches out 
before the visitor, while just beyond the ridge to the 
north nestles the lovely vale of the Heilmans, from 
which surrounding farms (among the loveliest of this 
entire valley) there gathers Sabbath after Sabbath a ' 
goodly congregation and Sunday-school of intelligent 
and enterprising farmers to worship God and perpetuate 
the work of the church established by their pious and 
heroic ancestry, sleeping here in the adjoining "God's 
acre." 

The graveyard which surrounds the old church 
abounds in old graves, whose epitaphs read in our day 
like pages of ancient history. Yet in many instances 
the same family-names are found on the church record 
to-day that are chiseled also on these old tomb-stones. 
Here are buried such old families as the Bohrs, Bogers, 



312 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



Bensons, Blacks, Bechtels, Barths, Boltzes, Cleimers, . 
Detweilers, Embichs, Fochts, Fishers, Gingrichs, 
Heilmans (a large number), Imbodens, (a branch of 
which family drifted to Virginia and was represented 
on the Confederate side in the late war by General 
Imboden), Killingers, Kellers, Kelkers, Karmanys, 
Kurtzs, Kleins, Millers, Matters, Rupps, Reinoehls, 
Richerts, Rutters, Stoevers, Schnebeles, Sprechers, 
Umbergers, Ulrichs and Xanders. 

Among the oldest graves many epitaph inscriptions 
have become illegible. That of the first Lutheran 
pastor has been retraced by the sculptor's chisel, and is 
therefore clearly discernible. It is somewhat as follows: 




M^ 






Hier Ruhet 

In iSeinem Erloser Entschlaffen 

JOHANN CASPAR STOEVER 

Erster Evangel Luthericher Prediger 

in Pensilvanien. ist geboren in 

Der under Paflz D. 21 Dec. 1707. Er 

zeigte mit seiner Ehe Frau 

Maria Catharine 1 1 Kinder 4 sein 

in die ewigkeit voran gegangen, 

Er Starb D. 13 May 1779. Seines Alters 

71 y. 4 mon. 3 wo. v. 2 Tag. 



A VISIT TO HILL CHURCH. 313 

By the pastor's side sleeps his wife, Maria Catharine, 
who survived him a number of years; near by rest a 
number of their children and later descendants. The 
Rev. Henry Wagner, one of the Reformed pastors, was 
also buried here in 1869, but a few years since his rela- 
tives had his body exhumed and re-interred in the Mt. 
Lebanon cemetery. 

Here sleep also the American ancestors of the Kelkers 
and Heilmans, both prominent and rather numerous 
families of the Lebanon Valley. Fitting stones were 
erected to mark the spot of their burial as late as 1867, 
by devoted and thoughtful descendants of their respect- 
ive families. The Hon. Rudolph F. Kelker, of Harris- 
burg, a great-grand -son of this early Swiss immigrant, 
was-instrumental in so fittingly marking his worthy an- 
cestor's grave. The stone, of the Hummelstown red 
sandstone quarry, in massive proportions, reads as fol- 
lows : 

" In Memory of 
Henr}' Kolliker (Kelker), 
Born in 1705. Emigrated from Herrliberg, Canton Zurich, Switzer- 
land, and settled in Bethel (now Swatara) township, Lebanon county, 
in 1743. One of the Elders of the Reformed congregation, Hill Church, 
in 1745. Died 1762. Also Regula Braetscheri, his wife." 

This worthy descendant has also compiled and pub- 
lished an interesting "Family Register," giving a long 
and careful genealogy of this family in Switzerland and 
America. 

The stone that here marks the resting place of the 
21 



314 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

first American Heilmaii ancestor is similar in size and 
quality to the one just described. It is in memory of 
John Adam Heilman, born November 16, 17 15, in the 
Palatinate, who emigrated to America in 1738, here 
married Maria Catharine Steger (of the family then liv- 
ing near Avon, as previously alluded to), who became 
the progenitors of at least a very large branch of the 
Heilman family in Lebanon county. This John Adam 
Heilman was in 1745 a fellow-elder with Mr. Kelker on 
the Reformed side of this Hill Church, and he died Sep- 
tember 25, 1770. 

One of the oldest tombstones here is a curiosity for 
the elaborate ornamentation of rosettes, skull and cross- 
bones upon it and the fact of its being engraved on 
both sides, the one containiug the obituary quite 
minute, and the other several verses of the solemnly 
warning German hymn, beginning: 

" Komm, Sterblicher betrache niich, 
Du lebst, ich lebt auf Erdeii, 
Was du jetzt bist das war auch ich, 
Was ich bin wirst du werden." 

The name of the person buried is, however, scarcely 
legible, but looks like Johann W. Hefs. "1st gestor- 
ben im Jahr Christy 1754. 1st gebohren in Jahr 1722 
den 27ten Mertz und den 29 darauf getauft worden 
auf die Evangelische lyUtherische Religion, &c., &c." 
The stone is found some distance directly back of the 
church. 



A VISIT TO HILL CHURCH. 315 

The writer thinks that there is history enough here 
to deserve its preservation and the perpetuation of the 
good influences that have emanated from this spot, by 
the erection of a new church of stone, after some beauti- 
ful, artistic model, with stained-glass windows to tell, 
in legends and pictures, the story of struggle and piety 
that associates with this sacred spot. There is wealth 
enough in the congregation to build that church now. 
There should be enough devotion to religion and 
family pride enough to keep this enterprise from a long- 
delay. 

Another thing that this place deserves is a fitting- 
monument to the memory of now the only, but heroic 
pastor who sleeps here — the Rev. J. Casper Stoever. If 
the performance of a maultiplicity of great and import- 
ant labors ever deserved such a mark of reverence and 
respect, then truly the self denying labors of this man of 
God, laboring for forty-six years in the establishment of 
this, and many other churches of Pennyslvania, deserve 
such distinction. We are happy to note that the pres- 
ent Lutheran pastor is making efforts to accomplish 
this end, and we trust that these efforts will meet with 
a hearty response and be crowned with speedy and 
glorious success. [P. S. See next chapter.] 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

THE STOEVER MONUMENT. 

What was hinted at toward the close of the last 
chapter has, since its first writing (1894), materialized. 
Through the efforts of the pastor, Rev. W. H. Lewars, 
considerable interest has been manifested in the matter 
of placing a fitting monument over the sacred dust of the 
pioneer pastor, who sleeps upon the historic hillock of 
the " ^^r^ AV/t/^^, " so that, in the near future, the de- 
vout wishes of a few local antiquarians are about to be 
consummated. Upon next Ascension Da)^, the anni- 
versary of Rev. Stoever's death, is to be unveiled this 
beautiful marble shaft. The material of this monument 
(which is the finest quality of bluish-tinted marble) was 
quarried at the historic Horse-shoe pike, in the heart of 
this valley, from the quarry operated by Messrs. J. H. 
Black and C. S. Maulfair, themselves chips of the sturdy 
block of Lutheran ancestry that settled here in Stoever's 
time, and which was spiritually sculptured by his gos- 
pel hammer and chisel in j:hat early day. The famous 
Lebanon county sculptor, Mr. J. H. Black, of Annville, 
has carved the monument, as seen in the accompanying 
cut, by which we are enabled, through the courtesy of 
Rev. Lewars, to show our readers the design of this 
memorial shaft. 

(316) 



THE STOEVER MONUMENT. 



2>'^7 



It is anticipated that an immense throng of people 
will congregate here on the day of the unveiling, as this 





event has been made to be simultaneous with the Con- 
vention of the Lebanon Valley Lutheran Sunday-school 
Association and a meetincr of the Lebanon Conference 



3l8 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

of the East Pennsylvania Synod of the Lutheran Churchy 
under whose auspices the unveilino^ and dedication will 
take place. 

The Proo^ram Committee has asked the author of 
these historic sketches to read a poem on this occasion, 
which, as the publication of this book will so nearly 
coincide with this about to become historic event, he 
will here append. Other important addresses will be 
delivered by members of Conference and by other cele- 
brities of the church. 



THE STOEVER MEMORIAL. 

BY REV. P. C. CROI.I.. 

The Muse's wand is in my hand, 

To use it T\e discretion, 
Can let its spell on this large band 

Work thoughts into expression ; 
Or let it wake the preacher dead, 
Who sleeps within yon lowly bed. 
In honor of whose pastorate 
This congregation now has met. 

And so I'll use the poet's Muse 
To summon forth this sleeper ; 
From Chronicles his text I'll choose ; 
His theme — The Grave my Keeper. 
And of the past I'll make him preach, 
Back o'er a hundred years he'll reach. 
To tell us here in simple rhymes 
Of Gospel work in pioneer times. 



THE STOKVER MONUMENT. 319 

So now give ear, the preacher's here, 

Arisen from his slumbers ; 
He casts his eyes far out and near 

Astonished at the numbers 
Who came from far to hear him preach. 
Who used their great-grandsires to teach 
The principles of truth and right 
In days that tried men's souls aright. 

He looks to see who each can be 

Who came to hear his sermon, 
But cannot quite himself agree 

If you are Hans or Herman. 
He sees resemblance to that fold 

That worshiped here in days of old, « 

Yet still his look is strangely wild 
Till told you're Hans' greatgrandchild. 

But now the spell comes o'er him well. 

His heart becomes inspired ; 
His tongue is glib the tale to tell. 

His soul with zeal is fired] 
To teach the children of this day. 
Who've met in such a vast array, 
The hardships of that dreadful day 
When men here used to "watch and pray." 

His voice is heard, forth flows his word, 

'Mid earnest intonation : 
" Beloved children in the Lord, 

Who form this congregation. 
Why meet on this Ascension day 
And leave your muskets home, I pray? 
Have you not feared the Indians' snare, 
The panther's fierceness, nor the bear? 



320 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

' ' And tell me what became of that 
First church of logs and sheeting, 

Those racks for flint-locks, coat and hat, 
Those hewn-log pews for seating ? 

Pray, who has torn that pulpit down ? 

And who has ripped my cleric-gown ? 

And who has lit those coals of fire, 

'Stead looking for some warmth up higher? 

" Who could not brook the old hymn-book ? 

Why don't you sing in German ? 
What's given you this English look ? 

Who's Anglicized my sermon ? 
Since I have laid me down and slept 
An English flood has o'er 3-ou swept ; 
Your blood is mixed, as well your speech — 
The Anglo-Saxon stamp's on each ! 

" And where are now, on hillock's brow, 

Those forest trees primeval ? 
W^ho cleared these acres for the plow ? 

Who tills them without equal ? 
A Rip Van sleep I must have slept 
While yonder stone its vigil kept. 
And marked my resting-place, 'neath sod, 
In this blest acre of our God ! 

*' Then let me tell — all marking well — 

My antiquated story, 
How, ere your sires to warfare fell 

'Gainst Briton and 'gainst Tory, 
The early settlers of these parts, 
With Church and Bible near their hearts, 
Reared here an altar to their God, 
Whilst felling trees and turning sod. 



THE STOEVKR MONUMENT. 321 

*' And here they swore, those years of yore, 

Heart fealty to Jehovah, 
Who brought them to this Western shore 

In arks secure, like Noah. 
And while they drew a breath on earth. 
Themselves, with all their goods and worth, 
They gave to God an offering, 
Though claimed by George, the English king. 

" Across the same great sea I came 

And landed in yon city. 
That still proclaims, in deed and name, 

A brother's love and pity ; 
Thence up the Schuykill's boisterous waves, 
And where the Conestoga laves, , 

I visited my countrymen 
To cheer their German hearts again. 

" Soon came a cry from far and nigh. 

Like Macedonian pleader. 
Our German folk for help did sigh. 

For Gospel and for leader. 
And thus I journeyed o'er the land, 
From Jordan's to Codorus' strand. 
Till on the banks of th' " Ouitopehille " 
I built my house within a mill. 

" From that abode for years I rode 

In rain and shiny weather, 
In seasons when the streams o'erflowed — 

My horse swam like a feather — 
I brought the story of the cross— 
For none then took account of loss — 
To those who fled to 'scape the sword, 
And settled here to serve the Lord. 



322 LANDMARKS OF THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

" And now appear around me here 

Those heroes' later offspring, 
Prepared a monument to rear 

In niem'ry of my off 'ring. 
I can't rebuke my children dear 
For that which must to all appear 
A deed that's prompted by the good, 
And gives for nobler thoughts some food; 

" But I would fain that every name 
' Of elder and of deacon, 
And others working just the same 

To light this gospel beacon, 
Would stand engraved on yonder stone. 
And over all, above, alone, 
Old Luther's watchword, so well put ; 
'Ein feste Burg ist imser GoUT " 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 



Let us come down now from the liillock upon which 
have worshiped for one hundred and sixty years the 
pious German settlers of this portion of the valley that 
is watered by the Indian-famed, s?iake-harboring Q\\\\Xd.- 
pahilla, and let us get a glimpse of the little gem that 
adorns this magnificent vale. Like a sparkling diamond 
upon the bosom of a king, so the neat little aggregation 
of houses, and schools, and churches, and workshops, 
and business houses, known as Annville, formerly as 
Millerstown, begems the bosom of this Quittapahilla 
valley. From whatever side you approach it, it charms 
and glitters. It has inherent beauty as a rural town, 
and needs no outside adornments to make it attractive. 
Whether viewed from the northern ridge of hills or the 
southern valley of its bordering creek, whether you walk 
through its streets or approach it from the east or the 
west, it is the same "sleeping beauty" — not a Sleepy 
Hollow — in this season of the year a veritable bride, 
adorned in her virgin summer robes, and decked off to 
charm the lover-husband who has espoused her and 
made her his own. Its many peaceful looking homes, 
lovely in architecture, and surrounded by velvety lawns 
and gratefully disposed shade-trees ; its towering church 

(323) 



324 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

spires and its imposing college buildings, surmounted 
with classic-looking cupolas and classic-ringing bells, 
and surrounded by an umbrageous campus, combine to 
make Annville an ideal town in picturesque beauty 
and in all the attractions of rural municipality. A pity 
it is that it is not owned by itself, but still belongs to 
the surrounding townships. I should think it had 
reached its majority, and was able to cut the maternal 
apron-string and start out in life independently. If it 
does this, and adds a few more tucks to its maiden frock, 
it can soon boast of being the prettiest municipal daugh- 
ter of all this Lebanon valley, and such a launching out 
upon the municipal world would doubtless add to the 
list of its devout admirers. 

This town was laid out by one Miller shortly after 
the middle of the last century, and for a number of 
decades was named Annville, but afterward Millerstown 
for a long period, when because of its confusion in 
postal matters, it was again changed to the first name 
about a greneration ag^o. Messrs. Abram Raiguel and 
Ulrich have also taken leading parts in the town's early 
establishment. Some of the original houses are still 
standing on its main and side streets. But there is no 
particular history connected with them, save that doubt- 
less into them entered that famous impostor — Dr. John 
Dady — that sacerdotal wolf-in-sheep's-clothing, who in 
the latter portion of last century, here for a while suc- 
cessfully practiced a smart game of gulling the sim- 
ple, all too credulous German folk and extorting their 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 325 

hard-earned cash from them. This glib-tongued Hes- 
sian — a remnant of those contemptible English Revolu- 
tionary hirelings — however, was not sharp enough to 
hide, for a long period, his black and greedy heart 
under his ministerio-medical coat from the Argus-eyed 
officer of the law, who in due time discovered his de- 
ception, tore the mask from his face, and sent him to 
the penitentiary, where he deservedly pined out his life. 
For further data concerning this impostor we refer the 
reader to Rupp's History of Berks and Dauphin 
counties. 

Another dark page to blot the otherwise fair histofy 
of this fair village is the monstrous deed of infanticide 
of " old Showers." This is of such recent date that it 
need not be recounted here. The buildings where this 
foul deed was committed, and where the murderer 
lived, and other scenes connected with the horrible acts 
here transacted, are still found in the southern portion 
of the town, while murderer and murdered sleep close 
together in one of the burial grounds of the town, 
awaiting their resurrection and final judgment at the 
"last day." 

About the oldest landmark of historic account is the 
old Ulrich homestead to the northeast of town, almost 
opposite the Reading railroad depot. The place is now 
the home of Mrs. Commodore P. Steinmetz's family, 
suddenly bereft of father and husband not long 
ago. Here early in the last century the first Ulrich 
immigrant settled, the great-grandfather of Mrs. Stein- 



326 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



metz, and in 1751 he built a stone house, part of which 
is still standing. It was provided with an arched cellar, 
built over a never failing spring, and with air-holes, 
being thus furnished with the essentials for life, and 
proved a safe place for retreat in case of an attack by the 




THE OI.D UIvRidH HOMESTEAD. 



Indians, as happened on several occasions. That these 
early inhabitants must have realized their constant and 
imminent danger to life from this source is evinced by 
the engraving found upon the stone that was used as the 
door-sill of the old fort, viz. : 

" so OFT DIE THUR DEN ANGElv WENDT, 
O MENSCH, DEIN END BEDENK ! I751." 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLK. 327 

This stone is still found here, but when the house 
was remodeled it became part of a porch-pillar, while a 
newly-engraved head-stone preserves the old legend in 
more modern and legible form, together with the names 
of the builders, Mr. and Mrs. Steinmetz. This old 
house was used as a store and trading post with the 
Indians by the first Ulrich; and the apple orchard, just 
in front of the homestead, is pointed out as an Indian 
burial ground, for it is reported that many Indians 
made their home for weeks with this first white settler. 
One evening this pioneer and his son (the father of the 
the late Adam Ulrich) were surprised by an attack of a 
murderous gang of red-men, but were fortunate enough 
to escape their deadly tomahawks and scalping-knives, 
by a hasty retreat to this sheltering refuge-cellar, where- 
upon the maddened savages killed all their cattle by 
cutting out their tongues. This happened about the 
year 1756 or 1757. If we mistake not, this is the place 
also where the Rev. Daniel Ulrich, of Tulpehocken 
fame, was born and reared to manhood. 

Walking through the town, one is struck with the 
classic-looking grounds and buildings of the Lebanon 
Valley College of the U. B. Church, located here, under 
the successful management of Dr. Bierman, president ; 
the tasty-looking homes, the fine churches, the well- 
built and well-painted public houses or hotels, enter- 
prising carriage manufactories of John L. Saylor and 
Sons, Barnhart and Beam, T. Loser and Mr. Shenk, 
the long-established and reliable marble works of J. H 



328 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

Black, the Daisy Shirt Factory, carried on by a stock 
company, of which the late Judge Kinports was first 
president (present incumbent is not known to the 
writer), the lime-stone pulverizing works of John Bach- 
man, and the three ancient grist-mills on the banks of 
the Quittapahilla. These are now in the proprietorship 
of Messrs. John Bach man, David Kreider and Long & 
Himmelberger (owned by Mr. Killinger of Lebanon), re- 
spectively, commencing on the east and following the 
stream in its westward course. The principal stores of 
town are in the proprietorship of Messrs. Kinports and 
Shay, Beam and Bachman, M. F. Batdorf and John 
Shope. The first store kept here was that of the late 
Mr. John Shertzer, who came to this village in its in- 
fancy from Manheim, and made quite a fortune in his 
time. The building used for the prosecution of his 
business is now used by the Annville Fire Insurance 
Company, and owned by C. Smith, Esq. 

Walking south on White Oak street, one passes a 
number of buildings with an interesting local history. 
One of these is the fine stone residence of Mr. William 
Biever, ex-County Treasurer. This used to be the 
residence of his uncle, Mr. John D. Biever, who was 
one of Annville's most liberal and public-spirited men 
in his day. Besides the furthering of other laudable 
enterprises, he was in a sense the founder and father of 
the first Evangelical Lutheran church located on Main 
street. Besides donating the ground, he paid about 
one-half of the cost of building, presented the church 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 



329 



with a fine two-story brick sexton's house, made pro- 
vision (which his widow carried out after his death) of 
erecting an elegant and commodious brick parsonage 
next to the church, and endowed the church to the 




CHURCH BUII.DING, PARSONAGE, AND SEXTON'S HOUSE OF THE FIRST 
EVANGEI.ICAI, I.UTHERAN CHURCH AT ANNVITXE, PA. 

amount of $3,000. His widow supplemented this 
amount by an additional legacy of $2,100, while 
the same estate endowed the cemetery by another 
$r,ooo. The present pastor of this church, Rev. 
W. H. Lewars, says, concerning these benefac- 
tions and this noble-hearted man: "It is but due to 
say, that the commendable generosity here recorded 
grew out of a life-long Christian character. The piety 



330 LANDMARKS IN THK LEBANON VALLEY. 

of Mr. Biever was acknowledged by all who knew him. 
He assumed a directing and sustaining influence in the 
church for half a century, and for forty- nine years was 
the superintendent of the Sunday-school." The house 
in which Mr. Biever lived was built by his father, 
John D. Biever, Sr., in 1814. 

In the year 1804 was erected the substantial stone 
church edifice located on this street, on a little elevation 
of ground and shaded by a grove of locust trees. It was 
originally built as a union church (Reformed and Lu- 
theran), and is a child of the Hill church. It has been 
exclusively Reformed since 1871. Its pastor. Rev. Dr. 
Hiester, has served it consecutively for forty-two years, 
and we are told there is a vigor about his preaching to- 
day that would indicate that not much of his natural 
force has as yet abated. The other Reformed pastors 
that have served this church were the same as have 
preached at the Hill church during this period. The 
Lutheran pastors have been Revs. Lochman, Ernst, 
Krotel, Miller, Porr, Fetzer, Weaver and Deitz- 
ler. The school-house, as is customary, we find near 
the church, but since the days of the public school 
system it has been remodeled and used as a resi- 
dence. It is at present occupied and owned by Mr. 
Daniel Seabold. Here such teachers as Messrs. Fisher, 
Bachman, Strine and others taught the now gray- 
headed citizens of the town and their departed com- 
panions during their juvenile years, the Psalters and 
their German spelling-books. 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 



331 



Strolling on past the old cemetery, we soon come 
where the cool and mill-wheel-tnrning Quittapahilla 
flows by the town. A beautiful stone triple-arched 
bridge here spans the stream, from which one has a 
picturesqueness of view in the nev/ surrounding land- 




THE RAIGUEI< MILIv. 

scape that is quite charming. Close by is the old mill 
of Abram and Elizabeth Raiguel, which, according to 
the date-stone in its front elevation, was built A. D. 
1797. On a little hillock to the south stands the fine 
old Raiguel farm-house, with all its antique appurte- 
nances, built four years earlier, a venerable centennial 



?>?>^ 



LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 



relic of rural comfort, agricultural prosperity and that 
proverbial peace and contentment that attend husbandry. 
Here, if we mistake not, the wife of Rev. Dr. A. C. 
Wedekind, of San Diego, Cal., and Mrs. Boughter, her 
sister, of lycbanon, were raised to womanhood. The 
Cassidys and Shirks have also married into this familv. 




THE RAIGUEI. FARM-HOUSE. 



This farm, with its ancient dwellings, is now the 
property of Mr. Josiah Kreider, living near the Horse- 
shoe pike, while the mill property has been owned 
since 1840 by David Kreider and his son, present 
proprietor. All of this property, and many acres 
besides, was the original possession of Abram Raiguel, a 



A GLIMPSE OF ANNVILLE. 333 

bachelor uncle of the builder of the mill named, whose 
loo- cabin used to stand where the farm-house now 
Stands. He was a native of Cougmont, Switzerland, 
from whence, after settlement here, he called his nephew 
and made him his heir. Other old families are the 
Imbodens (one scion the Confederate General from 
Virginia), Kreiders, etc., all whose first ancestors are 
buried at the Hill church. 

Were we to drift down this Indian-named creek 
we should soon come to where, in the days of 
the Revolution, stood a gun-barrel boring mill, an 
adjunct, we suppose, to the very prosperous gun-smiih 
business which then flourished in and about Lebanon. 
Farther down we would find the grist-mill of Mr. Kil- 
linger, built long ago by a Mr. Herr, and still farther 
on its course the spot where, in 1812, Mr. Hentzleman 
and others of Lancaster county, erected, at the enor- 
mous expense of $96,000, an extensive cotton and 
woolen factory, which failed in due time, according to 
Rupp, only because of the "ruinous policy of the non- 
protection of American industry." 

Were we to drift on in our imaginary course, we 
should shortly arrive where this stream mingles 
with the waters of the Swatara. And here we can 
imagine seeing those other rude rafts, or canoes, on 
which were embarked the wives and children of the 
sixty families of temporary Schoharie settlers, who, in 
the spring of 1723, were passing this point, making 
slow progress up this stream towards its headwaters 



334 LANDMARKS IN THE LEBANON VALLEY. 

and that of the Tnlpehockeii, their longed-for destina- 
tion. What better place than this to close our historic 
pilgrimage, and here suffer the streamlet of our ex- 
plorations to be engulfed by the mightier tide of our 
common history? Therefore, we shall bring our 
ancient and historic researches to an end on the banks 
of this valley's most conspicuous stream, of which and 
whose settlers the gifted Whittier has sung as early as 
1836, when he addressed his "Lines" to Governor 
Ritner of our State, as follows: 

*' And that bold hearted yeomanry, honest and true, 
Who, haters of fraud, give to labor its due : 
Whose fathers of old sang in concert with thine. 
On the banks of Swatara, the songs of the Rhine, 
The German-born pilgrims, who first dared to brave 
The scorn of the proud in the cause of the slave." 



